Stargate Millennium: Natural Selection
by StargateMillennium
Summary: A new spin-off: Every decision has a consequence and Wolf Pack's past actions will come back to haunt them. Isaac McFee falls ill during a mission and his friends become increasingly desperate to save him. But, in this galaxy, only the strongest survive
1. Chapter 1

_Previously on Stargate Millennium_

 _While exploring the galaxy of Caldwell 70, the Millennium Expedition encountered the Harvesters: a race of monsters that harvested civilizations, stripping entire areas of all living organic matter. During the encounter, Isaac McFree was dragged off by the creatures. But, he was later found unharmed._

 _Wolf Pack was eventually assigned to try to track down the elusive Furlings. While doing so, they found the Quinterans, a race of humans that was once known for liberating the galaxy of several tyrannical empires despite a severe technological inferiority and helping all civilizations in need. Impressed, the Ancients had allied themselves with these humans and, before ascending, declared them to be the Fifth Race. However, their descendants squandered the gifts passed down to them and began to ruthlessly conquer the galaxy. The Quinteran forces searching for the Furlings was led by Colonel Krampus. But, Nova managed to get in contact with the Furlings who easily wiped out the Quinteran forces._

-.-

Jennifer Hailey really wished she could wear a HAZARD suit right now. The planet they were exploring was humid, sandy, and a barren wasteland. The civilization that came before was long gone. It was a pity; they seemed pretty advanced. But now, all that was left were their crumbling buildings. She, McFree, and Dannick were supposed to be exploring the ruins together. It could've been interesting if Isaac McFree wasn't constantly running his mouth.

"No," she repeated again. "There isn't anyone." McFree has always been annoying but now he couldn't shut up.

"C'mon!" he insisted friendlily. "You were very bubbly when we got back. You sure there was no one?"

"My god, will you just shut up?!" Hailey growled. She remembered she promised Commander Umar not to strangle McFree but she was seriously considering to break that promise.

"Just drop it, Isaac," Dannick groaned, also getting rather irritated.

"C'mon, Mikey. We were on Earth for a week…plenty of time to get together with someone."

McFree chuckled at this statement, putting an arm around the two of them. Hailey immediately shrugged his arm off.

"Yeah, and plenty of time for you to get together with several someones," Dannick remarked, brushing McFree's arm off his shoulder.

"Wow…low blow."

Hailey got ready to either snap back at him or just plain old snap him in half when Umar called them.

"Are you done?" he asked from atop the stairwell in front of them.

"Yes, sir," Hailey replied, returning to her calm demeanor. "Isaac just felt the need to pry where he's not wanted."

"Well, if you're finished, you might want to look at this," Umar said, turning around and heading into the room. The rest of his team scrambled up the stairs to see what Umar wanted them to see. At least it would shut McFree up.

Stepping inside the room, she could see why Umar would be excited. The room was filled with old and half destroyed computers. It wasn't any secret laboratory but it was still a room filled with alien technology.

"Major Hailey, you recognize the technology?" Umar asked, staring at the computers. It was time for Hailey to work her magic. She pried the panel off a damaged computer.

"Well, the Ancients and Asgard use crystal technology," she explained, looking inside the machine. "These guys seem to use regular computer chips."

"So...not as advanced?" Dannick asked.

"Well, I wouldn't jump to any conclusions yet," she said, standing up with a computer chip in her hand. "All it means is that their technology is different."

Umar took a moment to process everything. It was a big city and there was a lot left to explore. But, there still could be interesting stuff here.

"Alright," he said. "Dannick and I will clear the perimeter then return to see if you have anything."

"Me?!" Dannick exclaimed. "Wouldn't I be more useful here?" he asked worriedly. The desolated planet was creepy enough as it is and he could only imagine all the nightmarish wildlife that was probably hiding and watching them.

"There's a sign outside that I want you to translate," Umar replied in a monotone voice. "C'mon." Dannick gave a small whimper but followed. Hailey opened her mouth to protest but didn't know what to say. Before she knew it, Umar and Dannick had already disappeared out the door.

"Well, you and me now," McFree remarked cheerfully. "Who is it?"

"I'm not telling," Hailey snapped. McFree's face could've glowed at this.

"So there is someone…" he chuckled. "C'mon, I can keep a secret." Hailey gave a sarcastic scoff at this statement.

"I've been trying to get you to keep your mouth shut since the day we met. I doubt you'll suddenly do it now."

She went back to fumbling with the computer, taking off the panel and rummaging with the wires and chips inside. This was going smoothly…too smoothly. She couldn't put her finger on it but something felt wrong. Finally she realized why: it was too quiet.

"McFree?" she called out, standing up but McFree wasn't there. "Isaac!" She stepped around the table and spotted him sprawled out on the ground. "Isaac!" she called out, rushing to his side. He was breathing…he had a pulse. Isaac McFree was known for bad jokes and stupid pranks but this didn't seem like another one of his jokes. She couldn't figure out what was wrong.

"Commander Umar," she called over the radio in panic. "Commander, McFree is down! Need you back up here now!" Suddenly, McFree's eyes opened and he stared right at Hailey. "My, god," she breathed as she stared into the yellow eyes with black slit pupils. His hand shot forward and seized her throat.

-.-

The galaxy is a big place. The humans of the Tau'ri have their team to explore the galaxy, and other races had their own.

On another planet, a Quinteran government official swiftly made his way down the hall. With his gray robes and gold trimmings, he stood out in the brightly lit corridor. He glanced at the prison cells to his left, the occupants glaring back out. Failures, all of them. And they were all locked up for a reason.

"Senator," the Quinteran guard behind them said, the flaps of his long jacket gently swaying behind him. "If I may, why do you need this particular prisoner."

"We have an operation in need of a military commander," the Quinteran senator explained dismissively.

"Then why this one?" the guard asked again. "You are aware of what she has done to earn her sentence?"

"I am well aware. However, the operation in question is rather minor and all our military commanders are currently preoccupied with more pressing matters with the Ror'char."

"I still don't agree with this."

The Senator stopped and glanced at the guard and said with a smile, "You don't need to agree; just obey." The senator then turned back around and they continued walking silently until they finally reached the end of the hall.

"This is it," the guard grunted as he walked up to one of the cells. He slid his card and the thick metal door opened. The room inside was pitch black, the only light coming from the hall. As part of their punishment prisoners were to be kept in total darkness. But with the light from the hall, the Senator stepped forward.

"Colonel," he greeted. "I see prison has treated you well." At first the prisoner simply sat on the bed at the back and glared at the politician. "You don't need to stay in shadows. Reconstructive surgery has already restored most of your face."

"Most of it…" the prisoner repeated, her hand drifting to the left side of her face. "And I'm fine where I am."

"Very well, Colonel."

"You say 'Colonel' as if I wasn't stripped of my rank," the prisoner growled angrily, still not stepping out of the shadows. The senator couldn't see her face but he didn't need to. He knew what she looked like and could hear her anger. "Stripped of my rank, charged with treason, humiliated in front of the men…" Her fists clenched so tight her entire body trembled.

"The deaths of the men under your command was your fault and your prison sentence was well deserved," the Senator said smoothly. "However, the current Administration was…overzealous. The Senate and the Courts agree that you are no traitor."

"What good is that?! The troops will never trust me again..."

"You must understand, you were given a ship and an army along with technology handed to us by the Ancients. And, despite all this, your search for the Furlings was foiled by four humans. The money spent to fund your search can be replaced eventually, but the men lost under your command are gone forever. It is doubtful that the troops will continue to follow you unless you regain that trust."

"How?" the prisoner demanded to know. "How could I possibly regain the trust of the troops?"

"Trust is not given; it is earned. You must start over with a simple mission and work your way up from there. And we have just the thing."

The prisoner stood up but chose to remain in the shadows. There was no hesitation for her.

"Ready for orders," she croaked hoarsely. The senator nodded at the guard who walked forward and un-cuffed the prisoner.

"Good to have you back…Colonel Krampus."

STARGATE

MILLENNIUM

It had been over two months since the Stargate Council attack on Millennium. But now, it was next to impossible to tell. After their week-long visit to Earth, they came back with new recruits and even more supplies. Workers had already fixed most of the damage. The gaping hole behind the stargate was already patched up. Several of the buildings were already fixed. It was going to be a while until the Millennium is back to its former glory but it was getting there. Even the main cafeteria was back in shape. That was where Corin Nevec, Charles Martin, and Steven Chen were.

"Seriously, the food's gotten better after we got back," Martin remarked, digging into his breakfast. Among the things brought with them this time was a new assortment of foods from around the planet. Corin had to agree: the food was a lot better. He remembered when he first saw it how hesitant he was to even touch it. Now, he ate it without a second thought. Food from Earth really wasn't that much different from the foods he was used to. There was meat, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. There were a few less edible fungus but just mushrooms worked.

"You meet any of the new people?" Corin asked with his mouth full. Martin just shrugged.

"Not really. I'm sure the SGC wouldn't send rookies though. From what I've heard, most of these people have already done a tour of Atlantis. What about you, Chen? You meet any of the new guys?"

"No," Chen replied bluntly.

"Well, someone's grumpier than usual," Charles remarked. Chen was known for his short temper and cynicism but this was a new extreme.

"He's been like this all morning," Corin said.

"Fine!" Chen exclaimed in defeat. "After getting chewed out…again…by the General for not being ready by the stargate last week, I did meet one new recruit," Chen explained.

Martin knew what Chen meant. When they left to visit Earth, Chen and Corin volunteered to stay behind. Chen didn't say why he chose to stay but Corin was alien and didn't have family back on Earth. When the expedition got back, Chen and Corin were found sleeping. Needless to say, Mercer was beyond pissed. _"The Ror'char know where the Millennium is. If it was them coming through that gate instead of us, we will have not only lost this station but the returning expedition would be walking into their hands."_

But, Martin was more interested in the new recruit that had Chen so pissed off.

"Who'd you meet?" Charles insisted. Before they could continue, another man eagerly rushed to join their table.

"Hey guys!" the man said cheerfully. Chen stared at the man in horror before burying his face in his hands.

"Uh…hello," Martin greeted awkwardly. He has never seen a person so aloof before.

"Hey, Chen!" the man greeted.

"Wow, you actually got my name right," Chen said stoically. "What are you doing here?"

"I came highly recommended by General O'Neill!" the man said proudly. "He thought you could use some help and encouraged that I came along!"

"No, Felger. I mean why are you here right now? I'm here, eating breakfast, because I already finished my morning rounds. Everyone who is eating right now has finished their morning rounds! You, on the other hand, haven't even logged in."

Jay Felger stared at Chen blankly, not sure what to say.

"So…does that mean I have to work now?" Felger stuttered nervously.

Chen didn't even bother answering that; he just glared at Felger. After about five seconds, Jay finally got the point and scampered off, leaving his tray of food behind.

"You really don't like that guy, do you?" Corin asked innocently.

"Gee, what was your first clue?" Steven reached over and took Felger's tray of food.

"Alright, you two," Martin interrupted. "I'm enjoying a nice breakfast and neither of you are going to bugger it up." He took another bite of his sandwich. "By the way, where's the Major? I haven't seen her all morning."

-.-

Major Terra Nova was in her private wood shop. She had already finished her duties for the morning and had decided to spend her time here. Technically, the Millennium Expedition was civilian expedition so they were allowed some luxuries. She off duty so she could wear her jeans and teal T-shirt as she sawed into the slab of wood.

Terra did have power tools but she only used those when she needed to finish her project quickly. Otherwise, she always stuck to hand tools.

"Major Nova," a voice called out. Nova brushed the sawdust off her goggles and looked up.

"General," she greeted, putting dawn her hacksaw. "You don't usually come down here." Nova walked over to the doorway, figuring Mercer wouldn't want to get sawdust over the dark blue dress uniform he was wearing.

"I see you are already helping yourself to our newly-brought supplies," Mercer remarked, examining Nova's woodshop. "I assume this is why you declined the offer to give your quarters furniture."

Nova remembered when they first began to spruce up Millennium, they gave everyone a bed, a dresser, and a desk. Nova accepted the bed but declined everything else. She could make it by herself.

"I apologize if I'm interrupting but we recently lost contact with the Dusk Riders," General Mercer explained.

"Commander Umar's team?" Nova asked.

"Indeed. We've already attempted to radio them but no response. I want Wolf Pack to check it out." Nova took off her goggles and set them on the counter before taking a broom from the corner.

"What do we know about the planet?" she asked, beginning to sweep away the sawdust on the floor.

"The former inhabitants appear to be somewhat more advanced than Earth. Doctor Dannick speculated it is a city and not a military base and, compared to the other ruins of civilizations, he guesses it was not abandoned very long ago."

"So, at the very least, it's unlikely they released some alien mad science experiment," she remarked. "But still…the Dusk Riders are the Millennium's flagship team. If something happened that has them in trouble then it has to be pretty big."

"If you're worried about them being injured, I can spare either Kauffmann or Osborn. I need at least one of them to manage the infirmary."

"We'll take Osborn then. She and Chen seem to have a history."

"Good. I want Wolf Pack ready and at the ramp in five."

-.-

Corin Nevec put his hand to his nose as he choked on the dust blowing through the air. What happened to this place? It was barren, the landscape worn down by the dust blown by the wind. The buildings were old and crumbling, the windows all shattered.

"Shouldn't we be wearing the desert uniform for this?" Chen coughed, shielding his eyes from the sand. They always wore a tactical vest when going off-world but they could've switched the black uniform for a desert-camo. As a search and rescue, Wolf Pack didn't need much more equipment than that. Only Doctor Osborn carried more: a backpack full of medical equipment, even some medical equipment that belonged to the Alliance of Four Great Races. Nova and Chen carried M-16's while Martin got to keep his beloved ion rifle. Corin and Kara had next to no combat experience and carried a berretta.

Everyone was squinting to keep all the dirt out of their face. Kara Osborn seemed to be the only one who was enjoying herself. She smiled and stared across the amazing scenery with her arms stretched out as if to catch as much wind as possible, though she knew she was going to be spending an hour in the shower getting all the dirt out of her hair.

"Because this isn't a desert," Corin noted. "The MALP read a humidity level way too high for a desert. I don't see any reason for plants not to be growing! Like, I can even see a pond not too far from here."

"Then what is with this place?" Martin asked. Even the buildings that were clearly supposed to have lawns had nothing but a stretch of dirt and sand. "Poison gas? Radiation?" Kara took out her scanner upon hearing this.

"My scans are the same as the MALP's," she said. "There's nothing in the air and there's no radiation."

"If that's the case we can worry about their landscaping choices later," Nova concluded.

"Should we split up?" Martin suggested, prepping his gun.

"We'll stick together for now. C'mon, Wolf Pack."

They started walking toward the center of the city. Corin glanced back at the stargate, still feeling uneasy. This city didn't feel abandoned; it felt dead.

-.-

"Kinda wish I brought my camera for this," Osborn remarked. She stared at the old buildings in admiration. She didn't know anything about the culture and architecture but it all still looked fascinating.

"You're joking," Chen grumbled when he heard this. "I know you like to travel and all, but can you pick a better time to sight see?"

While Chen and Osborn bickered in the background, Nova kept checking the radio, hoping Umar would respond.

"Commander Umar, do you read me? Commander, report."

"Hey, Charles," Chen called out, noticing Martin staring at one of the buildings. "You ok?"

Martin didn't look away. He kept his eyes maintained on the dilapidated structure, his ion rifle held tightly against his shoulder.

"You get the feeling we're being watched?" he muttered. Nova put down her radio cautiously walked over to Martin's side. His instinct is usually right when it came to being watched.

"Where?" she asked as the rest of the team huddled down. Martin gestured toward one of the buildings. Nova fumbled with her pockets as she took out her binoculars. It was impossible to figure out exactly where Martin was pointing but at least she had a general area to scan. She carefully examined the building window by window. She didn't have enough time to look at every window but she could at least give each one a quick glance.

"I don't see anyone," she said. Martin kept staring at the building. He would swear he saw someone staring back at them through the window. Whatever it was, it was gone now. But, what was it?

Feeling a bit safer, the team stood back up.

"We done being scared by birds?" Chen asked, wanting to get back to the search. That was when Corin realized-

"There are no birds. Anyone else notice this?"

Everyone fell silent. There were no plants nor animals at all. There wasn't so much as a weed growing out of the ground or a twig on the sidewalk.

"Déjà vu," Martin remarked. He was beginning to actually hope he did see someone in the building. This place would be a lot less creepy with people even if it was a bad guy.

"Guys!" Kara suddenly called out as she walked over to the edge of the road and looked over the guard rail. Everyone else followed her over the rail and looked over the edge of the edge of the steep hillside and across the rest of the city, a landscape that went on for as far as the eye could see. "Something tells me we're going to be searching for a while…"

Corin leaned against the rail. The Dusk Riders could be anywhere. This _was_ going to be a long search. At least he could take comfort in the fact there won't be a lot of shooting.

He spoke too soon.

Martin whipped around, his ion rifle raised.

"Alright, we are definitely being followed!" he growled. Nova and Chen both stepped forwards and prepped their weapons while Corin and Kara took cover behind them. There was no doubt about it this time. They all saw the dark figure that was peering at them through the window. It immediately ducked behind cover once it realized it had been spotted.

"We know you're there!" Nova yelled. "C'mon out!" The moment she said this, the thing leapt out into the open and dashed away.

"Did anyone catch that?!" Chen yelled as the figure disappeared.

"No," Martin yelled back, holding his rifle even tighter. "That thing was fast!" Whatever it was, it had begun dashing from cover to cover, leaping out into the open and leaping away faster than the eye could track.

"Well don't shoot yet," Nova ordered. "We still don't know what we're dealing with."

"Well, whatever it is, can the bugger stop-"

Martin didn't finish his sentence. The figure leapt to the ground in front of them, barely a meter away. Chen gave a yell of surprise and fired at it. He didn't aim though and the bullets simply hit the ground in front of the figure. It immediately froze. It stared at the ground where the bullets impacted before looking up and staring at the three.

Nova blinked a few times. She couldn't believe her eyes. Chen almost dropped his gun in shock.

"No way," Martin muttered. They assumed the figure was some sort of alien or wild animal, but it looked like a monster, a demon from a person's nightmare. More than that, its face looked like-

"Isaac McFree?" Corin called out, stepping forward. "Isaac, what happened to you?" Seeing a monster on an alien world was always terrifying, but to see a monster that looked like someone you know…

"McFree?" Nova asked cautiously. The creature's face was the only thing that bore even some resemblance of McFree with its long limbs and molted gray skin that looked like it was infected and rotting and long barbed hairs growing from its spine.

"Terra?" Chen called out when Nova began to slowly approach the creature, her hand out as if she was trying to pet a dog. "Not sure if that's smart."

"I'm with Chen on this one," Martin added in. Charles Martin was usually the one who didn't mind taking risks but this was just too risky.

"Hold on," Nova breathed, slowly walking forwards. "McFree?" she asked as her hand approached its face. The creature stared at her, tilting its head to the side curiously with a gentle purr. It got to its feet and stared down on the Major. She held her hand out, ready to put her hand on its cheek. Maybe the thing did recognize her.

Then, the thing reeled its head back before opening its mouth and roaring at her, a hail of spit flying at her face.

"Ok, bad idea!"

Nova turned around and ran as the monster swiped at her. Chen and Martin aimed their weapons but both froze. That thing looked like Isaac McFree. If this was a coincidence and it was a wild animal, they could stop it right there. But what if it was McFree? They'd be killing him.

"Major!" Martin cried out in shock when the thing picked up a chunk of cement off the ground and flung it at Nova. The piece of debris bounce off her head and she collapsed to the ground. Martin and Chen aimed but hesitated. If they wanted to shoot it was too late. The creature and Nova were too close to each other. One tiny misaim and they might hit her too.

"Terra!" Corin yelled as the monster lunged forwards again. Her vision was blurred, her head was aching, and her ears were ringing. She saw the thing moving in on her but she couldn't move. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, ready to accept her fate. But it never came.

She opened her eyes again when she heard a yell and a bang. It wasn't the bang of a gun though. She looked up and saw someone standing in front of her, shoving back against the creature with a rectangular shield of shimmering blue energy. It snarled in rage as it threw itself against the shield, trying to reach its prey.

"Go!" the person yelled. Nova glanced back at her friends before looking back at the stranger. Who was this random person helping them? "Stop gawking and start running!" Nova finally gave a nod and bolted for Martin and Chen.

The stranger glanced at the scraggly humans before looking back at the monster. It slammed against her shield. It was strong and her strength was fading. It was time for a change of plans. The creature reeled back and prepared to toss itself against her shield again. This was her chance. She dropped her shield, aimed her rifle, and fired. The shotgun at the bottom of her rifle blasted the creature backwards. Without hesitating, she turned and ran.

The creature watched as the six humans took off. It gave a quiet growl before scampering in the other direction.

-.-

"Minor concussion," Osborn reported. "Blood's simply from the skin being cut. Just take it easy and you'll be fine."

"It feels like I got conked by a block of concrete," Nova groaned, instinctively rubbing the area that got hit. Every tiny jolt, whether it was her foot hitting the ground when walking or just her heartbeat, made it feel like her brain was sloshing inside her skull.

"That's 'cause you did. If it didn't feel like that… _then_ you should be worried. Just take it easy, let the boys do the heavy lifting."

"Thanks, doc," Nova remarked. She picked up her M-16 and walked over to the mystery woman, who sat on a nearby block of concrete. She was definitely human, and her equipment didn't look much different than their own with her gray uniform and black tactical vest atop of it. Even her gun looked similar to their own. Martin and Chen stood on either side of her. Martin was relaxed with his ion rifle but Chen kept his M-16 tight, ready to start firing at a moment's notice.

"You know," the woman coughed, using her own weapon to help her stand up. "For people who carry a lot of guns, at least I think those are guns, you sure don't use them much." Nova wasn't really sure how to answer that. They weren't gung-ho lunatics that shot everything in sight, but she would like to think that they could evaluate a situation and judge whether nor not they needed to defend themselves.

"It's a little more complicated than that," she finally said.

"What? Are you out of ammo and you want to look scary?"

"Hey," Corin called to Terra, putting a hand on her shoulder. Nova stepped back and let Nevec take this conversation; he was the people person. "We appreciate what you did for us but we're not…we're not a combat team."

"Yeah, the lack of shooting gave that away," the stranger said. "Who are you people?"

"We should be asking who you are," Chen remarked. He gave a grunt as Martin sharply elbowed him in the stomach.

"Little nicer to the person that saved us," Charles muttered. The strange woman didn't seem to mind Chen's paranoia.

"The name's Nyrah," she answered, gently pushing back her shoulder-length light brown hair. "Though, I would like to know who you people are." Chen still didn't trust her and the fact she seemed to have to say everything with attitude only served to get on his nerves. She may have a cheerful attitude but Chen could tell by her scarred left eye, which had become a pale white, that this woman has seen her fair share of violence

"We're explorers," Corin explained. "I'm Corin, that's Major Terra Nova, Lieutenant Charles Martin, and Doctor Steven Chen. We're peaceful explorers. We were hoping to learn about other cultures, maybe trade technology." Nyrah scoffed at this answer.

"That's it? No offense but…that's one of the two most common excuses out there."

"What?"

"Everyone's some peaceful explorer here to meet alien races and learn about different cultures. And, two out of three times, they're lying."

"What about you, then?" Chen asked, his eyes narrowing. "What're you?"

"Me? I'm a space pirate."

There was a single loud click as Nova, Chen, Martin, and Nevec all cocked and aimed their weapons at Nyrah. Wolf Pack hasn't encountered any space pirates before but Corin has told enough horror stories about them to put them on edge.

"W-wait!" Nyrah stuttered. "I'm just a mercenary! A freelancer?! I'm not with the raiders or slavers."

"Oh, thank god," Nova sighed in relief, lowering her gun.

"You know, you could've just saved us the trouble and said 'mercenary'," Martin remarked.

"Hey, it's a dangerous galaxy," Nyrah said. "Ambiguity and anonymity are the best forms of protection. And what's your story? What're you 'explorers' doing here?"

"Didn't you just say anonymity was the best protection?" Nova pointed out. Nyrah shrugged at this comment. If they didn't want to tell her, it wouldn't matter. But, Nova knew the mandate of finding allies and technology still stood and, mercenary or not, this woman could be a powerful ally in the future. And the SGC has befriended mercenaries and smuggler in the past. "We're here looking for our friends. They're also explorers. But they went missing. But, I am more curious about what's a mercenary doing here."

"Well…for starters, do you guys even know where here is?"

Everyone in the room exchanged glances. The galaxy map back on Millennium has already been damaged twice and, even if it wasn't, the Alliance disbanded long ago. There was no way for them to know exactly where they were.

"This is the Andaran homeworld," Nyrah finally said. Corin felt a chill go down his spine when he heard this. It all made sense now.

"Oh no," he muttered, putting his hand to his head. He didn't even wait for his friends to ask since he knew they wouldn't understand. "The Andarans used to be one of the galaxy's superpowers. But, most of their civilization was right on the boarder of Harvester territory so…they got harvested. Lost over half their homworld before they finally decided to relocate. I remember hearing about it on the news once. Half this entire planet was harvested."

"So what does that have to do with anything?" Chen interrupted.

"Well the planet's half empty," Nyrah said. "So, some people on another planet thought it was strange when they suddenly detected a random subspace signal coming from the planet and, since they're afraid it's the Harvesters, they hired me to investigate."

"So that's why you saved us," Osborn concluded. "You thought we might be the reason for the signal so you can go back and get payed."

"Well, I'm not chatting with you because I'm lonely."

"I don't buy it," Chen immediately cut in. "Why can't you just go back with some half-assed story?" Nyrah laughed at this question in amusement.

"You clearly don't know how the market works, hon."

"Call me 'hon' again, and I'll show you how an automatic rifle works."

"Doing what you're suggesting is bad for business. Granted, it might take a while before they discover I lied but they'll still eventually find out. And it'll be that much harder to find my next contract. Speaking of contracts, I still need to fulfill this one and investigate what caused the signal."

"Sorry, but I doubt we have anything to do with it," Nova answered. Nyrah simply shrugged and stood up, slinging her gun over her shoulder. "Where're you going?

"Well, you clearly aren't what I was looking for. I'll ask the other group of humans."

Everyone's face immediately lit up when they heard this.

"What other humans?" Martin immediately asked.

"I saw three humans earlier: a big bald man with darks skin, a small pale girl with yellow hair, and a chubby guy with glasses. Was about to talk to them when I had to save your rears."

"And you didn't decide to tell us this when we mentioned we were searching for someone?!" Chen exclaimed in disbelief, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Hey, I don't get paid to tell you what I find," Nyrah snapped defensively. "The only reason I'm talking to you people at all was because I thought you could be what lets me cash in my paycheck. Helping you and telling you what I know is not going to give me any income."

Nova took a moment to take in everything she heard. It would be nice to return to the search but they still had to search a massive city. That's when she got an idea.

"Then how much?" she immediately asked. Chen stared at Nova.

"Excuse me?" Steven stuttered. He looked around at his teammates, hoping someone would show support. "Guys, can we talk for a moment," he asked irritably, gesturing toward the back room. Nova didn't have any issue so she walked back there. Corin and Martin quickly followed. Chen glanced at Nyrah once last time before going in. Osborn looked at Nyrah awkwardly, not sure whether to stay out here or join them in the conversation.

"So…" Kara said.

-.-

Out of sight and out of earshot, Chen hissed, "What are you guys doing?! You're just chatting it up with some random alien. We're telling her everything!"

"Our mandate is to find allies and technology," Martin reminded Chen. "And trust is a two way street."

"Yeah, and trust is earned. You don't give it out like Halloween candy."

"It's not just that," Nova interrupted. "If she knows where the Dusk Riders are, we need her help."

"Are we even sure that those are the Dusk Riders she saw?" Chen asked desperately, hoping that these three would change their minds.

"Well, her description sounds like them," Corin remarked. "It's everyone except…" Corin's voice trailed off as he thought about the creature they saw earlier and how much it looked like McFree.

"We still don't know what's going on," Nova said, shattering the silence. "We need to find the Dusk Riders as soon as possible. We need her help."

"And what can we possibly pay her with?!"

"Well," Corin remarked, glancing around the corner at the mercenary. "One way to find out."

Chen simply sighed as the four of them stepped back out. It wasn't a democracy and, even if it was, he was out voted.

Nova glanced at Chen one last time. It wasn't too late to take his advice. All she would need to do was tell Nyrah that they weren't interested in her help. She understood where Chen was coming from. They didn't know anything about this person. For all they knew, she could immediately try to kill them once she has the ion rifle. But, what about Umar and his team? What if they refuse Nyrah's help and they get to Umar too late? Would refusing her help be letting them die? Nova looked at the ground and clenched her teeth. Why could it never be simple?

"Alright," she said. "If we wanted you to lead us to our friends, how much for your services?"

Nyrah put her hand to her chin, thinking about the offer. Part of Nova felt rather stupid, knowing that another reason the mercenary stuck around was probably so she could coax them into paying her to find the Dusk Riders. The other half of Nova knew they had no choice but to ask Nyrah for help.

"What do you have?" she asked curiously. "Got any currency, quarium, valuable metals?"

Terra's face sagged as she realized that they had nothing of value. Luckily, Corin had an idea.

"How about technology?" he suggested. It seemed like a brilliant like to him. Nyrah, however, scoffed at this suggestion.

"No offense, but what technology could you possibly have?" she asked, eyeing the rather primitive guns they carried. She's seen plenty of weapons like those before…in history books. They all looked around desperately. Terra remembered SG mission reports describing how SG teams were able to make deals with the more primitive cultures just by trading a firearm. But most of the civilizations in Caldwell 70 were more advanced and they couldn't think of anything to trade with.

"Ror'char ion rifle!" Martin finally exclaimed. The rest of Wolf Pack stared at Martin. Ever since he got the alien rifle he couldn't let it go. Hell, he hated going on any mission without it.

"You sure about that?" Nova asked. "We don't exactly have a lot of those lying around."

"Not to mention, we are kinda just handing out alien technology," Chen added.

"Hey, I'm not thrilled about this either," Martin said. "But, we have to find the Dusk Riders." He turned his attention back to the mercenary. "So, what do you say? You help us find our friends, and right before we gate back I'll give you the ion rifle.

Nyrah stared at the gun thoughtfully. She'd be lying if she said it wasn't a tempting deal.

"How do I know you're not cheating me?" she asked suspiciously. "I've never done business with you before."

"Well, how do you find new employers?" Nova posed the question. "This may be your first job from us but it's a small thing in exchange for Ror'char weaponry. So, what do you say?" Nyrah paused one last time before saying with a smile, "We have a deal."

Chen glanced at Nova. No matter how he viewed this, it seemed like a bad idea. He knew that SG teams and Atlantis teams tended to tell alien civilizations who they were and where they came from to try to earn trust. He didn't like them doing it then and he certainly like Nova doing it now.

"Hey," Martin chirped, giving Steven a gentle elbow. "It's gonna be ok." Chen looked at the mercenary, who prepared to lead them to where she last saw the Dusk Riders.

"I hope you're right," he said.

-.-

The wind had finally died down so they didn't need to worry about dirt blowing in their eyes. The walk wasn't that far.

"This is it," Nyrah said, pointing at a building a block down from them. Corin stared at the structure before it hit him.

"That's a sub-space station!" he blurted out. Corin felt rather stupid for not thinking of this earlier, especially after hearing about Nyrah's contract. "You guys say that on your planet that people communicate with 'e-mail'. We have something similar here in our galaxy and sub-space stations are used to send messages if they're on another planet."

"You think the Dusk Riders accidentally turned on some of the machinery?" Kara suggested, staring at the building.

"Well, this place isn't that old," Chen remarked, strolling across the barren dirt that probably used to be a lawn. "I've seen World War II computers more degraded than these. If Major Hailey was messing with some of the computers, it's possible she might've caused a short that temporarily activated the tower."

He took a step forward and heard a loud click under his foot. Everyone had heard the click. Nova, Martin, and Nyrah looked at him in horror. It didn't register to Chen what the click could be so he lifted his foot.

"Aw crap," he groaned. Nova and Martin threw themselves to the ground and covered their ears. Nyrah immediately activated her shield and held it out in front of her. She couldn't help the two men standing out in the open but at least the Doctor woman was right behind her and protected by the shield.

The thing finally detonated with a blinding flash of light and a bang that sounded like it could shatter the world as a white blanket of smoke covering the entire area.

Even looking away with her ears covered and eyes closed, she could still hear the bang and see some of the light seem to burn through her eyelids. But, something was off. She expected a boom, not a bang. And the noise was a lot more muffled than she thought it would be.

She looked up and could see Chen and Corin stumbling around through the white smoke.

"The hell was that?!" Chen exclaimed, raising his gun, expecting something to jump out and attack him. Didn't matter if something did or didn't; he couldn't see anything but a blurry mass.

"Was that a flashbang?" Martin groaned, rubbing his ears.

"Well, it flash and bang," Major Nova announced loudly. "Someone must've rigged it. But why a flashbang and not a grenade?"

Nova and Martin slowly got to their feet, as Nyrah lowered her shield. There was a loud crash as the door of the building burst open. Martin and Nova immediately raised their weapons, ready to fire. But Nova immediately recognized the person who came out.

"Hailey?!"

Terra could see the surprise and relief on Hailey's face as she realized who it was that triggered the flashbang. Umar soon followed her out, his weapon lowered. They were both covered in dirt and sweat. Umar had a deep gnash in his left shoulder and Hailey's neck was horribly bruised.

"You two look like crap," Martin muttered. Hailey glared at Martin, not in the mood. Umar was a lot more pleasant though.

"Just glad General Mercer finally sent reinforcements," he said.

Nyrah observed the four talk to each other. These were the humans she saw earlier but she didn't think they would set a trap. The mercenary rubbed her ears in pain. Her shield filters out any light that was considered dangerously bright, so she wasn't affected by the flash, but it did nothing against noise so the bang left her ears ringing.

"Thank god you guys are alive," Nova said, putting her gun down.

"I'll thank him once we're back on Millennium," Umar remarked, shaking his head. "Michael Dannick's inside. We should talk there."

Nova glanced at Nyrah as if to make sure she approved.

"Hey, I'm not leaving until I get my half of the bargain," the mercenary said, getting ready to follow. With that said, they all went inside.

-.-

"At least I can finally see something I can call a hand," Chen groaned in frustration. His ears were still ringing but at least he could finally see something.

"You're such a baby," Hailey muttered from the other side of empty room.

"Baby? I just stepped on a grenade, what do you expect my reaction to be?!"

"Hey, if that was a grenade you'd be a messy puddle and I wouldn't have to be having this conversation!" Hailey snapped defensively.

"Would you guys stop," Corin groaned, his hand at his temple. "You're giving me a headache." The magnesium that goes off from a flash bang was designed to blind a person and the bang was to temporarily deafen them. Corin could feel both these effects and getting over them was not easy.

Everyone else in the room just stared at the arguing trio. Dannick was slouched against the wall, still unnerved by the whole situation. Nyrah was standing in the corner, playing with her dagger. Now that they found their friends, it was only a matter of time before she gets her payment. Doctor Osborn using a medical scanner left behind by the Alliance to see how deep Umar's wound was. Once she got her data she set aside her scanner, which Nyrah eyed curiously, Osborn went to work bandaging the wound on Umar's shoulder as he explained the situation to Nova and Martin.

"I left the room with Doctor Dannick. Suddenly, Hailey radioed me to come back. When I came in…McFree was attacking her. But…I don't know."

"He mutated?" Nova asked. Umar looked at her in surprise, not expecting her to predict exactly what happened. "We saw a creature earlier. If Nyrah over there hadn't saved us, we might not be here. The creature looked like McFree…"

"We were hoping that it wasn't though," Martin added. Commander Umar held that same hope. But he could not provide the good news.

"No; it's him. Every time we tried making a break for the stargate, it chases us down."

"That's why we setup flashbangs around the place," Dannick added. "I don't Isaac to get killed but…we need to protect ourselves."

"Did you consider that your rescue party might step on it and get blinded?" Chen huffed.

"Oh boo hoo!" Hailey mocked. "It's a nonlethal explosive."

"So what?! A shot to the nuts is nonlethal too!"

"That depends on who does the shooting."

"Hailey, that's enough," Umar said calmly. "We've all been through a lot today."

"Wait a minute," Osborn remarked as she finished wrapping his shoulder. Umar went to put on his uniform as Kara continued talking. "You said it kept attacking you? It left us alone for a while." Just saying this, she then looked at Nyrah. "And it didn't go after you either."

"What didn't?" Nyrah asked.

"The creature you saved us from. Not only did it leave you alone, it didn't strike you as odd there was a monster here?"

Everyone on Wolf Pack stared at Nyrah. She was the one who told them that almost half the planet was stripped of all life and she didn't' once question why there was a creature in that section.

"As I said: the planet's on the edge of Harvester territory," Nyrah said casually. "I just assumed that was a Harvester hunter."

"Wait…Harvesters?" Umar interrupted. Nyrah looked at him in confusion. "Major Nova, you remember when McFree got dragged off by the Harvesters?"

"And you guys found him unconscious afterwards," Nova said with a nod.

"It's awfully strange that they drag him off then just leave him. And it seems like an awfully big coincidence he begins mutating while on a planet near Harvester territory. He was even the one who picked this planet as our next mission. Mercer and Donavan just sent MALP's to the next few planets to explore. We were looking at the images sent back and McFree suggested we go to this one."

"Well!" Nyrah announced, stepping forward and dramatically clasping her hands together. "This is all _very_ touching but…my payment?"

Nova felt all the blood drain from her face.

"We agreed to give Nyrah the ion rifle if she helped us find you guys," Terra Nova explained to Umar.

"If you give that away, we might not be able to save McFree," Umar pointed out. "We need every technological advantage we can get."

"We had a deal," Nyrah growled darkly. Chen hands gripped his rifle tighter, not liking where this is going. Nova looked at Martin then back at Nyrah. They needed the rifle but they had already agreed to give it to the mercenary.

"We did promise…" Martin said nervously, beginning to regret his idea.

"We might need the rifle to save Isaac!" Hailey argued.

"Hate to break it to you, but the mercenary's going to be mighty pissed if we don't pay up," Chen pointed up. "You think we can look for McFree and fight her at the same time?"

"Wait," Corin called out. "What if we sweeten the deal? We can give you something else, something better than the ion rifle if you help us."

"You have something better than Ror'char weapons?" Nyrah scoffed skeptically. "The Ror'char reproduce Alliance technology. The only ones that could have anything better are the Quinterans who use Ancient technology. What could you possibly have?"

"We have technology from the Alliance of the Four Great Races."

"Corin," Chen growled in agitation. "Not another-"

"How would you have Alliance technology?" Nyrah interrupted, intrigued by this proposition.

"We're from the city of Millennium," Nova explained despite Chen's protests. Nyrah practically dropped her dagger when she heard this.

"Millennium," she repeated, sheathing her weapon. "Archaeologists and scientists have been looking for that place for as long as interstellar travel's existed. It's said only the Fifth Race can find the Alliance capital of Millennium."

"Yeah…that sounds about right. Look, if you help us save our friend, we'll take you back to Millennium and pay you in Alliance technology. Deal?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey everyone. Sorry for the long hiatus but my schedule's been keeping me busy. I've been writing this chapter in bits and pieces over the course of several months. I really hope that my writing hasn't been negatively affected. Once again, please leave a review. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Most of all, enjoy._

-.-

Nova peered out the shattered window through her telescope. She didn't know whether the mutated McFree was gone or whether it was still out there, watching them from the shadows.

"So, we know the plan?" Umar asked loudly, slowly standing up with his hand on his wounded shoulder. Doctor Osborn had patched it up but the arm was still garbage.

"You guys plan too much," Nyrah muttered, readying her weapon. "Sometimes you just gotta wing it."

"Not this time," Nova replied. "Umar and Hailey are injured so they're gonna stay behind and defuse all the flashbangs they set up." Nova could already see Chen rolling his eyes as if to say 'Oh, now they defuse them'. The effects of the flashbang had finally worn off but it still hurt. "Corin and Dannick will stay behind with you. The rest of us will contact Millennium to see if we can get supplies or reinforcements."

Corin looked at Terra Nova disapprovingly. Sure he couldn't fight but he didn't like leaving his friends to do all the dangerous work. Dannick was too scared to disapprove.

"Me and Chen will shadow you from a distance," Martin added. "That way, if McFree does show up it won't be just you guys."

"I still don't like bringing Kara with us," Chen grunted irritably. "Just make a list. We can ask Millennium ourselves."

"Like hell you are," Osborn protested, still flipping through papers and sliding them into her pack. "Both Atlantis and the SGC has had incidents involving personnel mutating into monsters and I put my money on it being a retrovirus. I might be able synthesize an antidote from their work and in order to do that we need to get McFee back to Millennium. Only I can properly update General Mercer on the situation."

"We should also ask for the trazers," Martin added in, peeking through the window to the outside. Martin knew that having the alien stun weapons would be helpful, though he would've preferred if the SGC had packed zats or wraith stunners when they first left. Seriously, they didn't give the Atlantis Expedition any zats, they didn't give the Destiny Expedition zats nor stunners, now they didn't have the Millennium Expedition either weapons. What gives?

"We all know our jobs," Nova concluded. "Let's go people! Move!"

-.-

Nova opened the door a crack, making sure there was no one directly outside. Behind her was Osborn then Nyrah. Nova nodded to Nyrah, who nodded back. They were ready. Major Nova burst outside with her weapon raised. Osborn followed out, taking cover behind the Major. Nyrah quickly joined her companions, her own gun raised and ready. The coast was clear for now. The three of them began quickly making their way to the stargate while Martin and Chen were exiting the building through a backdoor in the basement. Nyrah knew the old abandoned city and had helped them plot a route that Martin and Chen could follow on high ground. Nova, Osborn, and Nyrah were going straight down the road. It was easy to travel but it was also very open they were easily spotted.

It seemed like luck was on their side as they made it to the stargate without incident. Nyrah and Terra quickly cleared the area as Osborn got to work dialing the stargate.

"Hey," Nova whispered to the mercenary. "If you still want proof of us being from Millennium…"

"Just stick to our agreement and everything will be fine," Nyrah remarked dismissively. Every advanced civilization knew about the Alliance of Four Great Races and wanted their technology. She was already committed to this job so as long as she got paid.

As the seventh symbol was entered, the unstable vortex blasted out of the stone ring with a mighty whoosh before being sucked back into the event horizon, its warming blue glow engulfing the surrounding area. With how dead everything on the planet looked, the gentle glow of the stargate was almost a comfort to Nova.

"Though, I must know," Nyrah remarked as Osborn began to talk through the radio. "How did you find it? Nearly every civilization has been searching for Millennium for as long as people could remember. Supposedly, only the Fifth Race can find it."

Nova paused at this question. While she felt that Chen was a bit too paranoid she was not going to start blabbing everything she knew.

"Let's just say that this isn't the first abandoned Alliance thing we found," she said.

-.-

While the three of them were busy at the gate, Martin and Chen kept watch from a distance. The main road may have been open and exposed, but the two of them stayed inside the buildings, watching through the shattered windows. They set up in what looked like an old bakery. Charles glanced out the window, imagining that a few decades ago people worked in this shop. People served food through this window. Now they were all dead, their city left behind.

Martin shook off the thought and prepped his ion rifle, resting it on the counter and aiming it at the gate. Chen did the same with his M16.

"Guess all that' left to do it wait," he remarked. He reached back and gently slid over an old chair, dusting it off before taking a seat. Martin like this idea and pulled his own chair. This actually brought him back to his old hunting days.

"Hey," he hissed to Chen. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"I get the feeling you'll ask even if I say no," Chen mumbled, impatiently tapping his fingers on the counter.

"What's your problem with Nyrah?"

Chen glanced at Martin in irritation. He knew he would have to answer this eventually.

"I don't have a problem with her. It's just…" Chen struggled to think of a way to properly explain his issue not just with Nyrah but with Nova and the SGC. "You guys are too trusting. Even back at the SGC, every time we meet a new civilization, the first thing out of the SG team's mouth is: we're explorers from the planet Earth."

"We need to make friends out here, Chen."

"Hey, I wanna make new friends as much as the next guy. But I'm not going to just start handing out my house address. I just wish you guys could be a bit more careful."

Martin sighed and looked back out the window. He understood what Chen was feeling but still felt the man was going overboard with it.

"Gate's shut off," Martin observed. "So far so good."

"You know Mercer isn't going to let McFee back on Millennium," Chen pointed out. Martin didn't respond but he knew Chen was right. Isaac had mutated into an alien monster and they still didn't know why or how dangerous he was. The General was not going to let them bring McFree back unless absolutely necessary. The old man always was overly cautious.

"We'll figure it out," Martin said optimistically. "We still have to find him first."

Just as Charles said this, a loud crash echoed from the back room, Chen and Martin springing to their feet. Martin glanced back at Nova and the group, afraid that the moment they take their eyes off the three McFee would attack.

"Stay here," Martin whispered, readying his ion rifle. Chen kept his M16 ready as Charles tip-toed toward the back room, weapon aimed at the door. Martin remembered when he was a child he was terrified of monsters he thought lurked in his closet at night. And whenever he approached his closet he would keep expecting the monster to swing open the closet door and get him. It's been years since then but he suddenly felt like that kid approaching the closet. As he approached the door to the backroom he kept expecting a monster to swing open the door and get him. He kept his finger on the ion rifle's trigger as he finally reached the door. No monster yet. Time to see what was inside.

Weapon tight against his shoulder, he used his free hand to gently push open the door slightly. He jumped back and aimed his gun, still expecting something to come charging out. Nothing. Martin gave a sigh. He picked up his foot and kicked the door wide open before charging in. He cleared the room, checking every corner. But, he immediately saw what made the noise.

"Gah, god!" he yelped in shock.

"Charles?" Chen called out. "Charles, you ok?"

"Yeah, just…just get back here."

Chen glanced back at Nova and the group. Martin didn't sound worried or even panicked. Gun at the ready, Chen walked into the back and saw-

"Isaac!" Chen called out in shock. McFree was sprawled out on the floor, covered in a thick layer of sweat. His clothes were shredded, leaving him practically naked on the floor. Most importantly, he was human.

Chen held back, not sure what to make of the situation. He kept expecting McFree to turn back into a monster and shred them on the spot. Martin peered out the busted down door that it looked like McFree had come through. He scanned the dusty ground outside, analyzing the footprints, his curiosity growing. He knelt down, his finger gently tracing the outline of the prints.

"Isaac, you ok?" Chen asked, finally approaching the man while Martin went out the broken-down door. McFree rolled onto his back, still hunched over.

"Hey, Chen," McFee greeted with a laugh and a smile. He wasn't confused or anything. "You know, I wouldn't mind a bit of privacy right about now."

"You don't need privacy, you need pants," Chen said bluntly, seizing McFree by his arm and hauling him to his feet. The man seemed crazed, his eyes wide with a demented smile spread across his lips. Chen could only imagine what the process of turning into a savage monster does to the mind.

"Little help here!" Chen called to Charles Martin as he walked back in. They both supported McFee and made their way for the exit. "We need to get him back to the others. Why are you smiling?"

"You don't realize?" Martin asked with a huge grin on his face. "We just found McFree. And he's still human. We might be able to bring him back to Millennium; get him some proper treatment"

"General Mercer's still not going to let us back until we know why he mutated in the first place."

"Well at least we have him. He not a monster anymore."

Suddenly, McFree grabbed both their arms, squeezing them as hard as he could. He leaned forward, something gurgling in this throat. Chen and Martin jumped back, weapons aimed at McFee.

"You had to jinx it!" Chen roared in disbelief. McFree toppled to the floor, spastically trembling. They both watched in horror as a thick black slime began to ooze from Isaac's body, covering him with the viscous fluid. Neither Charles nor Steven fired, not sure what to think about what was happening. Within moments, McFree had become a giant sac of black goo in the floor. And as quickly as it began, it stopped.

Martin could still feel the adrenaline coursing through his blood. All of a sudden the prospect of bringing McFree back to Millennium didn't seem like such a good idea. He kept his ion rifle trained on his comrade. Just a moment ago he was human. Now what was happening? Well, whatever it was, it seemed to be over.

"What the hell just happened?" Chen breathed fearfully.

"That better be a rhetorical question," Martin remarked, inching away from the giant black mass.

"Well here's another one: what now?"

There was a loud crunch as a set of spikes shot out of the mass, the black material stretching like rubber, twisting, bubbling, contorting…

"Run!" Martin yelled as the black sac finally ripped open, a murky liquid spilling onto the floor as the thing inside finally came out.

-.-

Back by the gate, Osborn watched as the two crates of medical equipment she requested came through. She would've preferred to get McFree back to Millennium but she'll take what she can get.

"That's everything," Osborn huffed, still angry that Mercer would not let them bring McFree back to Millennium. She slung the backpack over her shoulder and picked up a crate in each hand.

"So far so good," Nova remarked, scanning the landscape. McFree was nowhere to be seen. If things keep up, they could get back to the hideout with all their equipment without incident.

A loud bang split the air. Nova instinctively crouched down, her weapon raised. She looked toward the building where the bang came from as the sound of gunfire continued. She could hear the familiar bangs of an M16 and the sharp electric cracks of an ion rifle.

"Oh no," she muttered worriedly.

"Yup, it looks like you friends are in trouble," Nyrah remarked with enthusiasm, itching for some action.

Martin and Chen leapt out the window of the building and made a mad dash down the hill for their friends. It wasn't until the entire front of the building exploded open did Nova finally understand what was going on.

The mutated Isaac McFee came charging out of the building, his molted gray skin shrugging of the concrete like it was foam. His clawed feet dug into the dirt as his now enlarged hands seized one of the pieces of debris and flung it at the fleeing duo. Martin and Chen dove to the ground and began tumbling down the hill as the massive piece of concrete flew overhead and shattered against the ground.

"Well," Nyrah said cheerfully, patting Nova on the back. "You wanted to find your lost friend."

"They should have included trazers in the cases, stun weapons!" Nova stuttered, running over to Osborn to find the guns.

"Right. Well, you two have fun with that," Nyrah remarked, readying her own weapon and facing the mutant. "I'm going to go have fun with this."

-.-

Back in the abandoned station, Umar looked out the window. He could hear the sound of weapons fire and roaring over the horizon. Wolf Pack has encountered McFee; he was sure of it.

Behind him, Corin and the rest of his team looked out the window as well.

"Commander," Hailey said. "What do we do?" Umar didn't answer. He kept his gaze on the horizon in the direction of noise. The easiest thing to do would be to drop everything and go help them. But there was more at stake than just that.

"Dannick," Umar said slowly. "Start scavenging the basement, see if there's any leftover material we could use."

-.-

Martin dove out of way as the mutant slashed at him with its claws. As he got back to his feet, he aimed his ion rifle at the monster.

"C'mon, mate," he muttered to himself, lining up the shot. "Don't make me do this."

McFree dug its claws into the road and swung his arm upward, the concrete shattering and flying up into the air before raining down on Martin. He gave a yell of surprise and raised his arms to protect his head as rocks the size of apples hailed down on him, one of them cracking him right on top of the head and sending him to the ground.

The mutant swiftly walked over to Martin. But, before it could deliver the final blow, with a blast from her shotgun, Nyrah sent the beast stumbling sideways.

"Over here, ugly," Nyrah mocked, cocking her shotgun. She blasted it again, the monster flinching from the shot. It roared furiously and turned to face its new prey when a hail of bullets began tapping it in the back.

"McFree!" Chen barked, reloading his M16. "I'm not done with you!" The beast turn to face Chen, its attention diverted once again. Chen knew this back-and-forth game wouldn't last long but every second he could buy counts.

The creature roared at his two attackers. Its claws dug deep into the road and it flung a piece of concrete at Chen. Steven threw himself on his back as the rock flew so close to his face it scratched his nose. The creature turned and charged Nyrah, rushing forward on all fours. She sprayed at it but it showed no signs of stopping. The mercenary prepped her shotgun again, knowing the sheer power of a single blast should stop it. All of a sudden, McFree collapsed, stumbling forward, twitching violently. Nyrah saw an opening and prepared to take it, aiming her shotgun right at its head.

"Wait!" Chen roared, suddenly appearing next to her and shoving her gun aside.

"Jeez, will you relax," she said smoothly. "My bullets aren't hurting it any more than yours are."

"That's not my point," Chen snapped. They both looked back at the mutated Isaac McFree as his flesh seemed to rot off, skin turning into slime and flowing away. Nova rushed over with the trazer in her hand. She watched wide-eyed as the massive beast seemed to melt away until nothing was left except for an unconscious Isaac where the monster once was. He was human once again.

-.-

Part of Nova was happy with the way things turned out. Martin may have had a concussion but the hardest part of the mission was complete. They got the medical equipment. They found Isaac. And they could bring him in without incident.

They chained McFree up in the basement of the station against a concrete pillar. Osborn was upstairs setting up her equipment with Nyrah anxiously watching her, rummaging through the new equipment.

"What's this?" the mercenary asked, picking up what looked like a gameboy.

"It's a hand-held scanner," Osborn explained. "It can detect broken bones, internal bleeding, even parasite and fungal infections." Nyrah bobbed her head thoughtfully.

"Alright then," she said, standing up.

"Where're you going?" Chen barked.

"My job here is done," she remarked. "You guys do what you need to do. I'll be right outside." She took a step forward and stopped as if she remembered something. "Oh yeah…" She took what looked like a radio off her vest and handed it to Nova. "It's my communicator. If you need me, give me a call." Everyone watched as Nyrah walked through the door. Nova was speechless at Nyrah's abrupt departure and just handing the communicator to her without so much as an instruction on how to use it. The Major finally set the communicator on the table.

Nyrah's talking was the only source noise and, without her, silence soon filled the room.

"Hey," Martin spoke up. "Where's Dannick and Hailey?"

"They're in the basement," Umar said. "Doctor Osborn, may I ask what the plan is?"

"The SGC and Atlantis both had incidents involving their personnel mutating because of a retrovirus. I'm thinking that this is the same thing."

"If that's the case, we should be able to come up with an antidote, right?" Corin asked.

"But both cases only involved them mutating into an alien creature," Nova pointed out. "From what Chen and Martin told us, McFree turned human before running into them. Then he turns into a monster and attacks us before becoming human _again_."

"At least they were lucky enough to have him turn human again before they found him."

"Yeah, you have no idea," Osborn muttered. "The transformation between human and monster seems random. Seems like the length of time between the two is also random. Him turning human while he was in the same building as Steven and Martin? That's not a coincidence."

"Oh good," Chen scoffed sarcastically when he realized what Kara was saying. "That probably means that it was in the middle of ambushing us when he turned human again. So we got lucky. Still doesn't explain why."

"I know, I know," Osborn said irritably. "It's also the speed of the mutation that has me puzzled. I've seen fast mutations before but nothing that takes place in a few minutes. If I hadn't seen it for myself, I would've thought it was impossible."

"You better get down there and figure it out then," Umar remarked calmly.

"Yes, but first…" Osborn picked up a syringe from her kit. "We still don't know what the source is so we need to test everyone to make sure no one here has a retrovirus. We have to make sure it's not an environmental factor." Seeing the needle, Chen began inching out of the room. "Steven, get back here!"

-.-

McFree's mind was in a blur. He was still trying to piece together what happened. It felt like he had lost his mind and had just found it again.

"Isaac."

McFree groaned. It felt like he had just woken up was trying to fall back asleep. The fog in his mind was beginning to clear up, his memories and emotions coming back.

"Isaac."

McFree opened his eyes. He could feel himself chained to the wall and pipes behind him.

"Hey guys," he remarked to Dannick and Hailey. "So…what'd I miss?" Hailey and Dannick exchanged glances. Last time they saw him, he was a mutated monster trying to kill them. The massive bruise on Hailey's neck was caused by him.

"You…feeling ok?" Dannick asked.

"Just peachy. The concrete's cold by the way."

"Do you remember anything?" Hailey added.

"I remember I haven't been this tired since I banged an entire bachelorette party back in college."

Hailey gave Isaac an irritated look. He was always an annoying wise-crack who tries, and fails, to be funny but was this really the time to be making jokes? Even when he was transforming between a human and some alien monster he had to get in some sexual gag. Still, it was nice seeing him human again.

"Doc Osborn is working on a way to cure you," Michael Dannick quickly explained.

"And how's that coming?"

Dannick and Hailey exchanged glances, both of them opening their mouths to say something but immediately stopping.

"We don't know," Hailey explained, suddenly feeling useless. She remembered Samantha Carter, her teacher and friend, had some medical training. If Carter was here, she could've been helping them find a cure. But instead, they had Hailey, and the only person on the team who had medical training was tied to a pillar out of fear of him turning into a monster and killing them.

"Hey, if it's going bad you don't have to-"

"We don't know that!" Hailey immediately snapped. McFree gave a weak chuckle. Usually by this point he would begin prodding Jennifer Hailey, try to find ways to piss her off.

"I'm just saying, if things don't go well you guys shouldn't have to stick around for me. If there isn't a cure, just head back to Millennium."

Hailey shook her head, not accepting this thought. She opened her mouth to argue but was cut off.

"Dannick, Hailey!" Umar called from the base of the stairs. "We need you upstairs." Dannick nodded and quickly went to see why they were needed. Hailey quickly followed, glancing back at Dannick one last time. As she walked past her commanding officer, Umar put a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be alright," Umar told her reassuringly. "Wolf Pack just needs to do a few things." He nodded at Nova who gave a nod back and began walking down the stairs with the rest of the team and Doctor Osborn behind her.

Hailey sighed and went up the stairs. She was used to having faith in her own team. She's worked with Wolf Pack before and now it was time to put faith in them.

"Go to work, Osborn," Nova ordered, her gun trained on McFree. If Osborn was right and McFree's mutation was random, he could turn into a monster at any moment and they weren't sure how well these old chains would hold him. She took out her scanner and slowly skimmed it over his form, the data instantly being collected. Martin and Chen took positions on either side of Isaac, weapons at the ready. None of them liked this but they didn't really have a choice. If he began turning, they could put a bullet in him before the transformation is complete. The mutant's skin seemed bullet proof but hopefully the ion rifle could blow a hole in it. Corin watched as his three friends got ready to shoot McFree.

It didn't feel right to him. They were aiming their guns at an innocent man who was completely helpless at the moment. It just felt…wrong.

"Sorry if I'm not my usual charming self," McFree remarked. "Kind of under the wind here."

"Don't worry," Osborn said, putting away the scanner. "We'll fix up in no time." She took out a syringe and got to work drawing blood.

"Hey, Terra," McFree said. "Didn't want to say this in front of my team. But, something's…different."

Nova eased up a little, confused by what he meant.

"Different?" she repeated. Isaac closed his eyes, leaned his head back, and gave a sigh.

"I can't explain it. The Harvesters, they did something to me. When it's silent, I can hear them: whispers in the back of my mind. They are coming. The Harvesters are coming."

"Doctor?" Nova asked Osborn, hoping for an explanation. But Osborn was as confused as the rest of them.

"I don't know. It could be telepathy of some sort. We've seen stuff like that before. Or the strain of whatever happened to him is affecting his mind."

"Well, we've only encountered the Harvesters once," Corin pointed out grimly, remembering it was his home that was harvested, his friends and family gone in an instant. "Can they do something like that?"

"Yeah, from what we saw they looked like a bunch of monsters," Martin added. "I mean, c'mon. The Asgard called us the Fifth Race. We kicked the asses of the Goa'uld, Ori, Replicators, and Wraith. Are we really gonna get ours kicked by a bunch of wild animals?"

Isaac suddenly gave a dry scoff when he hear that comment. They all looked at him, watching as he opened his eyes and stared at them. Whatever was going on was happening again. He wasn't mutating but he was changing before their eyes.

"Isaac?" Nova asked warily.

"I'm fine," McFree said lazily. "It's just…it's funny how ironic Martin's statement is." Corin shifted uncomfortably at McFree's sudden change in tone. It was McFree's voice but it didn't sound like him talking. "Technology has made us arrogant. Knowledge has made us ignorant. We think that because of our technology, our energy weapons, our ships, our stargates we're the dominant force in the galaxy. We made it this far because nature let us. No matter how advanced we become, no matter how far we travel, nature will always be the dominant force in the universe. The Harvesters are just her way of kicking us in the ass as a reminder."

Nova's grip on her gun tightened. This wasn't mind control. Something wasn't talking through him. This was Isaac McFree saying this but something was affecting his mind to make him think this.

Nova practically jumped when Osborn taped her on the shoulder.

"I think you guys should see this," Doctor Osborn whispered into the Major's ear. Terra Nova gave a nod as Osborn hurried upstairs. Something on the medical scanner clearly had her worried. Nova went up the stairs with her team close behind her. Osborn was already busy at the laptop by the time she reached the top, the members of Dusk Riders coming to see what was going on. As Kara finished pulling up the image on the computer she stepped to the side so everyone could see. Both teams leaned in, trying to understand what they were looking at.

"What the hell is that thing?" Nova breathed, staring at the results of the scan, an X-ray showing what looked like a bony hand gripping McFree's spine.

"Looks like a facehugger," Martin remarked, almost instantly receiving irritated glares from everyone in the room. "What? It does." Though he wasn't that far off in that description. The thing with its eight bony finger-like appendages gripped McFree's spine while a long whip-like tail curled around the bottom of it.

"From what I can tell, it's some sort of parasite," Osborn explained. "It's almost like a Goa'uld, attached to the spine a little below the skull."

"McFree said these are harvesters right?" Chen asked. "After we got back from Corin's homeworld, you said you gave McFree a clean bill of health!"

"I did," Osborn argued back. "The only thing I can think of was that it was too small to be detected at the time." Kara paused after she said this before adding, "Now that I think of it, that actually makes sense. Tapeworms, bot fly larvae, a lot of parasites are small when they enter the human body and grow. I suspect that the Harvesters put whatever that is in him and it grew to the size it is now."

"Doctor, is this what's making him mutate?" Umar asked, leaning in to take a closer look at the image of the parasite.

"I believe so but I need a proper lab. We need to get him back to Millennium and get this thing out of him. He needs to undergo surgery."

"You'll have to convince Mercer," Corin reminded her. "He's not going to let something dangerous back unless he thinks the risk is worth it."

"Doctor Dannick might be able to help with that," Umar said, looking to his teammate to explain what he meant.

"I've been able to go through some of the files left behind. The people who used to live here have been fighting the harvesters for years. They kept records of what they learned."

"You saying they knew how to beat the harvesters?" Nova asked eagerly.

"Maybe what they want or where they came from," Martin added in, imagining what was hidden away in those files.

"It's not that detailed," Hailey immediately clarified. "They didn't know where the harvesters came from or what they want but they knew the harvesters were incredibly adaptable. Combat doctrine dictates that engagements with the harvesters are to be avoided unless a victory was guaranteed. Otherwise, the harvesters will take what they learned in the fight and become stronger as a result."

"Might explain why Ror'char response to harvested planets are so long," Nova told Corin, thinking about the time it took for the Ror'char to reach his homeworld after it was harvested. "They have to amass a sizeable military force before heading out."

"Mercer is worried what might happen if McFree comes back to Millennium," Chen said, getting back on topic. "You really think this will convince him?"

"Well if he doesn't let us in and we die, he loses this information," Umar explained. Nova was surprised by how menacing Umar sounded as he said this. Christopher Umar was leader of the Dusk Rider and he was not going to let any member of his team die.

"I'll go get Nyrah then," Nova volunteered, picking the communicator off the table where she left it. "Doctor, pack up your equipment. The sooner you finish, the sooner we head out, the better."

Terra readied her weapon and prepared to head out.

"You need any backup?" Martin asked. Nova just shook her head.

"McFree's been restrained and we're the only living things on this continent. I'll be fine." Without another word, she turned and left.

"I guess I'll help you pack up," Chen told Osborn.

-.-

Nova stepped out and looked around, taking a deep breath of the dusty air. She had no idea why Nyrah decided to take such a long walk or where she went. The sun had begun to set and the barren city looked more and more eerie under the red sun. She took a moment to remind herself that the city was empty before she headed out.

Nova looked around, noticing the tracks in the dirt. All their footprints were mixed together but she recognized the prints that didn't look like the standard issue boots.

Nova picked up the communicator Nyrah handed her earlier. The woman left without even giving any instructions on using the damn thing. Nova moved the slider on the side of it up and down, not sure which position was talk. That was assuming the slider even did that. There was a dial at the top of the communicator but Nova assumed that was to control which channel to be on and she did not want to touch that.

"Nyrah, you there?" she said into the communicator. "Nyrah?" Still nothing. "Gives us communicator, doesn't tell us how to use it," Nova muttered irritably.

She looked back at the ground. It would be easier to simply leave without Nyrah, but they had a deal. Nova gave another annoyed sigh. She was going to have to follow Nyrah's footprints to figure out where the mercenary went. Nova once again considered to just leave Nyrah behind. It would be easier. No. They had a deal.

With how barren the landscape was, nothing stopped the wind from blowing dirt everywhere, covering up the old footprints and making Nyrah's fresh ones obvious. Hopefully she didn't wander off too far. Nova had walked down a few blocks, still following the footprints. This planet's day and night cycle were clearly longer than Earth's, the sun set taking much longer than it should to set. Terra almost wished that it would hurry up. With the blood red setting sun, the place was getting creepy.

"Nyrah, come in!" Nova said through the communicator again, moving the slider into every position possible. "God damnit woman, where are you?!"

 _"God damnit woman, where are you?!"_

Nova froze when she heard these words seem to echo out of the building behind her, the exact phrase she just said. The words that went in her communicator had come out another.

"Nyrah?" she called out, turning around. She expected to see only one figure standing behind her. What she saw instead made her blood run cold. Several black shadows slowly stood up from the roof of the building, looking down on her, long gray jackets flapping past their knees, their eyes peering out from between their helmets and the cloth covering their mouth, eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. Realizing they have been seen, even more soon rose from their hiding positions.

One man stepped forward, his sleek black armor gleaming in the crimson sun, his nose and mouth concealed by a rebreather. Terra Nova might not have been able to see his mouth but she could see his eyes and his ice-cold glare. From out of his gray uniform he pulled out a massive pistol and took aim

"Open fire!" he ordered.

"Crap!" Nova called out, immediately recognizing the Quinteran soldiers. She took off as the Quinterans opened fire. It felt as if the air was being ripped apart by the deafening sound of gunfire, the vibrations rippling across her skin. She dove behind the empty cars, the windows shattering into a hail of glass and raining down on her. She looked up and spotted an alley right in front of her. It was a long shot but it was the only way out.

The Quinteran officer watched as Nova got out of cover and ran off, turning down an alley for and out of sight. There was no expression on his face. He just stared in that direction, giving a soft but frustrated growl. He gently shook out his pistol to clear it of the smoke rising from the barrel before putting it back into its holster.

"We've been compromised," he said to his men. "Tell the men to shoot on sight."

-.-

Terra could already feel her legs tiring as she ran from alley to alley. She stopped for a brief moment to glance behind her, seeing if the Quinterans were still there. Of course they were. With the Quinterans inhuman speeds, there was no way to escape them.

She looked forwards and her eyes widened in shock as the Quinteran officer from before seemed to just drop down from the rooftop and landed in front of her, throwing up a cloud of dust as he hit the ground. She held her M16 in front of her in a last ditch effort to protect herself as he swung his fist forward, the sheer power of his punch shattering her gun. He yanked out his pistol as his men landed beside him. Nova turned left and dove through a window, the dusty glass shattering, a cloud of dirt kicked up as she hit the ground, the broken glass crunching under her. It was a desperate attempt to save herself but she knew it was futile

She reached up and took a grenade off her belt. Holding it behind her back, she stood up and looked up in front of her, her eyes falling upon the six Quinteran soldiers standing before her, weapons raised as their officer stepped forward, pulling a second pistol from its holster.

Nova prepared to throw the grenade, putting her thumb in the pin and prepared to pull. She knew she was not going to make it out of this encounter. The least she could do was take these guys with her. Throw it too soon and they can take cover before it goes off. Throw it too late and she will be gunned down before she can even move.

The Quinteran officer took aim at her. There was no escape. Nova prepared to throw the grenade. But, she froze when she saw a blur rush past her, jumping in front of the firing line before activating a shield just as the officer opened fire, the barrage of bullets stopped by the energy shield.

"Nyrah?!" Nova stuttered in surprise.

"Nova, the grenade!" Nyrah called out, holding out one hand.

"Right!" Nova barked. Without even thinking, she tossed the explosive to Nyrah. With her energy shield, Nyrah was a in a much better position to throw it and they could both get out of there. She tossed the grenade to the alien mercenary and prepared to run. Adrenaline was coursing through her body. She expected Nyrah to throw it at the soldiers, blow them all to hell…but instead, Nova watched Nyrah firmly grasped the grenade and lowered her shield, staring at the bomb with a smile.

"Wos," she muttered. "That…was… _close!_ Nice reflexes by the way." Nova stared in disbelief at the sight.

"Nyrah, what's going on?" Terra Nova stuttered. Nyrah walked up to Nova and grabbed the communicator she had left them earlier. Nyrah pushed the slider at the side of the communicator to the top, as if to demonstrate how it worked.

"Just helping and old friend" Nyrah replied smoothly, her voice also coming through one of the Quinteran communicators.

"Are you done yet?" the Quinteran officer asked Nyrah impatiently as she clicked the communicator off.

"I haven't even begun," Nyrah replied, attaching the communicator back on her uniform. "I told you to leave the bitch to me, Colonel Daemon."

"She had made our position," Daemon said slowly as he holstered his weapons, his voice cold and emotionless. "Letting her go to warn of comrades would compromise the mission."

"A scouting mission…"

"It is our mission nonetheless."

"Well you can relax now. She's not going anywhere." Nyrah redirected her attention to Nova before asking, "Are you?"

"Chen was right…" Nova said as one of the Quinterans walked forward and took her weapon. "All this time, we thought you were helping us when all along you had already been bought by the Quinterans."

"Oh yeah, about that," she remarked with a smile. "You remember what I told you when we first met? I told you, 'peaceful explorers' are one of the two most common excuses in the galaxy. The other one is being a space pirate…" Nyrah smiled as she watched the realization spread over Nova's face. "You got it now."

"You aren't a mercenary bought by the Quinterans. You _are_ Quinteran."

""That's right. I am Colonel Nyrah Krampus of the Quinteran Galactic Rangers." Nova felt a chill go down her spine as the truth sank in, the dread realization of everything they told Nyrah. Before Terra Nova could do anything, Krampus whipped out a pistol and fired a shot right into her stomach. Nova let out a cry of pain, grasping her wound as she fell over, warm blood trickling over her hand.

"Oh I just want to savor this moment," Nyrah chuckled twirling her pistol and pacing around the room. "You have no idea how long I waited for this." Nyrah walked over to Nova and stooped over her. "I was the officer in charge of the mission to find the Furlings, a mission where you cost me everything! My rank, my reputation, not to mention the time I spent in rehab and prison. I was forced to shoot three of my own men. I saw you and your team running for the gate before I was beamed onto a ship that ended up crashing on another planet. I lost everything because of you."

Nova tied to stand up but immediately fell over. It felt like her stomach was on fire. Doing anything that used a stomach muscle shot searing pain through her whole body. Using the wall of the building for support, she slowly picked herself up as Nyrah returned to pacing around the room.

"Then why'd you help us?" Nova demanded to know. "We wouldn't have found our friends without you!

"Had to bite my tongue, it seemed well worth it. It's quite amazing how much trust a little act of kindness can get you…and how much information…"

As these words left Nyrah's mouth, Nova gave a horrified shiver as she realized how much they had to tell Nyrah to get her help.

"So you planned this whole thing?"

"You really think I planned for all of that?" Nyrah laughed with a dramatic wave of her arms. "I told you guys before: sometimes you just gotta wing it."

"A dangerous endeavor," Daemon remarked in an unamused tone. "You got lucky."

"Hey, I played the part pretty convincingly," Nyrah said defensively.

"Your entire plan hinged on them accepting your services. If they had not been so desperate things might've gone differently. You took unnecessary risks…"

"Read a history book, Daemon. TR1 had an entire legacy of taking risks and the only ones who had a problem with it were the annoying-ass politicians. Besides, look what a little risk has gotten us. We now know more about our enemy thanks to me. I left the communicator behind on transmit for a reason. I was actually on my way back when your dumbasses screwed it up."

"Then what do you intend to do now?" Daemon asked darkly. He was growing tired of Nyrah's gloating.

"Unfortunately, Major Nova, we've learned all we can from you," Nyrah said to Nova with a wicked smile. "Sorry." As Nyrah lined up the final shot to the head she paused for a moment to think about what she just said. "Nah, I take it back; I'm not sorry."

"Is this what they wanted?!" Nova blurted out, tying to think of any way to stall. She didn't know what she was stalling for but it was an extra second she was alive. "I know the Ancients declared you guys to be the Fifth Race. You think this is what they wanted?"

"You mean maintain order and keep balance in the galaxy? Yeah, I think so. Those primitive little humans get chosen to become the Fifth Race, and all the aliens in the galaxy suddenly become pissed off."

"You wiped out your former alien allies!" Nova exclaimed, slowly inching away. "You've wiped out dozens of alien races and civilizations, slaughtered millions! I don't understand how you think that this is what the Ancients wanted. Do your citizens really believe that you guys are doing the right thing?!"

"Krampus!" Daemon barked when Nyrah was about to answer. Daemon could tell the prisoner was just stalling for more time. They needed to be finished with this and move on. Nyrah groaned and aimed her pistol at Nova's head.

"I can tell you this is not what the Ancients wanted!" Nova yelled, becoming more and more desperate as Nyrah realigned the shot. "Because of you guys, not only did the Ancients create of rule of zero-interference, but the Asgard chose to declare US the Fifth Race instead!" Nova really hoped she didn't accidentally say more than she should have. What could them knowing the Asgard wanted the Tau'ri be the Fifth Race do? Her words must've had some impact. Nyrah paused and even lowered her pistol slightly. Nova could hear the surrounding Quinterran soldiers whispering among themselves.

Seemed like luck was on Nova's side and her stalling paid off. A bolt of energy suddenly streaked through the broken window. Terra Nova barely had enough time to cover her ears as the energy bolt exploded against the wall, a massive wave of air pressure knocking everyone off their feet, rippling across their skin and ringing their ears, a cloud of dust instantly filling the room. The Quinterans scattered as more bolts of energy seemed to just pour in through the window, smaller energy bolts that rained in like a deadly hail, pelting every surface, vaporizing golf ball-sized holes into everything they hit.

Daemon waved the dust out of his face. The other Quinteran soldiers were in a panic but he remained calm and collected. His subordinates always credited his training for his ability to remain cool under fire. His enemies always said it was because he was a cold heartless killing machine. Either way, he was not fazed by the incoming weapons fire and looked for where it came from. He growled in frustration when he saw the two figures in the distance firing at them. It was the Millennium humans Lieutenant Martin and Major Hailey. They were both equipped with Ror'char weaponry, Martin with his ion rifle and Hailey with her blast cannon. The ion rifle must've been set to max yield for explosions of these size.

"Give me the interdiction rifle!" Daemon ordered. One of the soldiers dashed out of cover and tossed him the sniper rifle. With the heavy fire pouring down on them sniping those two wasn't going to be easy. But he could take the next best thing. Daemon aimed and fired.

-.-

From the second floor of the adjacent building, Martin and Hailey were pouring fire and hell upon the landscape. When they heard the gunfire from earlier the two went to investigate. Good thing too or else they wouldn't have stumbled upon this.

The Quinterans were scattering as more energy bolts poured onto the landscape. Suddenly, a single round streaked through the air and flew straight through Hailey's gun, sending her toppling backwards in surprise as it seemed to explode in her hand.

"Damnit!" she cursed when she realized her weapon had been destroyed. "Whoever that guy is, he's a hell of a shot."

"We did what we came here to do," Martin said, ducking back behind cover. He saw Major Nova sneak out of there amidst the chaos.

"Then let's get the hell out of here," Hailey suggested, pulling out her pistol. The wall to the building had completely collapsed, creating the perfect ramp for those two to access the second floor, and the perfect ramp for them to escape with. They had to head back to the sub-space station where they could actually hunker down and they knew the Quinterans would likely be on their asses.

-.-

Daemon watched as the two human vanished from sight. The rest of the troops were stepping out from cover as the dust began to clear. Nyrah turned around to face Nova.

"What?!" she breathed when she realized Terra Nova was gone. Her frustration soon boiled into rage as she realized that Nova's friends had helped her escape. "Rally the men!" Nyrah ordered. "We're taking out her friends. Get a drone cannon ready!"

"Yes, ma'am," one of the Quinteran soldiers replied, taking a small rocket launcher off his back.

When the Ancients gave their technology to the Quinterans, they had also given them the blue prints and instructions on how to build said weapons. The Ror'char may have technology from all four races in the Alliance but they were pale imitations of the originals. The Quinterans, on the other hand, may only have access to Ancient technology but they could build the real thing. These humans, once considered primitive, had integrated Ancient technology into their own. They had firearms that could shoot bullets not by using powder but by a series of electromagnetic coils to launch their rounds at hypersonic speeds. They had projectiles that could generate their own energy field that would burn through armor and shields and even continue burning after being lodged in their target. They even had a portable shoulder-fired weapon that could shoot Ancient Drone weapons.

The Quinteran soldier opened the revolving cylinder on the side of the launcher and set it down. One by one, he carefully took from his backpack three drones, Quinteran-made drones, and loaded his launcher, setting each drone into a chamber. With a few pulls of a trigger, this weapon could unleash a quick barrage of drones against a target and, as long as the wielder doesn't let go of the grip, he could guide the drones with his mind. The power of the Ancients passed down to a worthy successor…

"You with us, Daemon?" Nyrah asked. Colonel Daemon simply stared at Krampus, still unamused by her bloodlust. But, it was this bloodlust that allowed her to ascend the so quickly through the ranks. He slung the sniper rifle over his shoulder before reaching up and taking a shotgun off his back. He was onboard. Nyrah readied her assault rifle as more troops emerged from the buildings.

She knew where they were and knew that they couldn't have had enough time to pack up and leave, especially with one friend ready to mutate into a Harvester and another one wounded and missing. She will lead the charge on the rest of them and gun them all down.

So the Asgard chose them to be the Fifth Race? This was clearly an error in their judgement, one that'll soon be corrected.

"You'll pay for all of this," Krampus muttered. "I'll paint that station with your blood."


	3. Chapter 3

"We've got eyes on the target."

"Here they come."

"Kill them!"

Martin and Hailey bolted down the alley. They could hear the impossibly fast footsteps of the Quinterans behind them, running like Olympic sprinters despite the equipment on their backs. Martin and Hailey weren't carrying much and the nightmarish soldiers were still easily catching up. They didn't dare look back but if they did they would see the Quinterans' venomous eyes pierce the dark almost as if they were glowing.

Bullets whizzed overhead as the Quinterans fired blindly at their prey. They were lucky firing while running isn't very accurate. But they had to get back to the subspace station and at this rate they'd get shot before that happened.

"LEFT!" Hailey suddenly screamed, grabbing Martin by the arm and dragging him out of the alley. A confused Charles almost tripped trying to readjust his course as they ran into the middle of the streets. The cars may act as cover but it was a much longer way back to the subspace station. It wasn't until Maritn finally regained his balance from making such a sharp turn on short notice did he finally realize what Hailey was up to.

The squad of Quinteran try to make the same turn. But as they tried to slow themselves down to make the turn their shoes lost traction with the ground. Their speed suddenly became a detriment as the rubber skidded across the cement as their momentum sent the Quinterans stumbling across the street, hitting cars and bouncing into the next alley. Any of the Quinterans that did manage to slow themselves were quickly sent flying by their comrades.

It was a simple tactic but it was enough. Hailey chuckled to herself, knowing that this would buy them enough time to get back to Umar and the others.

-.-

Corin peeked over the barricade and out the window. They packed up most of their equipment and used the tables and everything in they could find in the station to barricade the doors and windows. Hell was coming, or at least its army was, and they must be prepared for it.

"Commander," Corin suddenly called out. "Charles and Jenny are back." Umar went to the window and watched as Martin and Hailey ran across the streets toward the sub-space station.

"Dannick, get Doctor Osborn and get out of here," Umar ordered.

"Wait, what about Isaac?!" Dannick argued. They worked so hard to get him here safely just to ditch him?

"Unchain him and get him out of here. We'll be right behind you, now do as I say!" Umar barked angrily, readying his gun. "Nevec, I want you to join them," Umar said.

"I follow Terra Nova's orders, not yours," Corin argued. There was so much adrenaline pumping through his body that the entire moment felt like a dream. He didn't want to die, he was terrified of dying, but he couldn't just abandon his friends. He wasn't military but he was not leaving.

"Professor, we both know you detest using firearms and you detest killing even more," Umar yelled impatiently. "You'll only get in our way."

Corin glared at Umar angrily. He hated it but it was true. Corin was still a mess with firearms and he kept freezing when he pointed it at a person. He was useless in a fight. Before he could utter another word, panicked banging came from the door. Umar ran to the door and carefully picked up the metal cabinet leaning against it and set it to the side. He opened the door just a crack, wide enough for Hailey and Martin to scramble in.

"Bugger, bugger, bugger, bugger," Martin kept muttering in panic as he closed the door and Umar moved the cabinet back in place.

"It's the Quinterans!" Hailey exclaimed as she jumped into the room. "Nyrah was a Quinteran officer!" Corin's eyes widened at this statement. Umar looked at him once more.

"GO!" he ordered. There was no argument from Corin this time. He turned and ran down the stairs.

"Hailey, where's your blast cannon?" Umar asked when he saw that she was wielding her pistol instead. She and Martin were drenched in sweat and panting from the run.

"Destroyed," she managed to say. Umar's face stiffened at this statement. The reason General Mercer ordered each team to carry at least one alien weapon was to even the odds in a hostile encounter. They were now one weapon down.

"Major Hailey, what's your tactical analysis?"

"I'd say there's about ten of them," Hailey commented. "Number-wise, they don't have that much of an advantage over us but they are way better equipped and we will be at a disadvantage taking care of Isaac."

"In other words…" Martin translated. "We're buggered."

-.-

Corin rushed into the basement. They had to take Isaac away before the fighting starts. Dannick was waiting at the side while Chen and Kara were already busy removing Isaac's chains.

"We should try to take him to the gate while we can," Kara suggested as she tossed the spare chains aside.

"That might not be a good idea," Corin shouted as he reached the bottom. "It's the Quinterans! Nyrah had been a Quinteran officer this entire time!"

Chen looked at Kara as if to say 'I told you so'.

"They'll probably have the gate guarded," Chen remarked.

"We have to risk that!" Osborn argued. "We have to get McFree back to Millennium."

"No…" McFree croaked hoarsely when she said this.

"And what's your plan to fight?" Chen asked. "I can't take them all on by myself!"

"NO!" McFree suddenly yelled, grabbing Chen and Kara by the arms. Chen immediately slapped away Isaac's hand before rushing over and tearing the other hand off of Kara. Chen was thankful they had not finished unchaining McFree but something told him it wouldn't matter.

"Isaac?" Dannick asked, standing up. Everyone knew what was happening but they were all too stunned to react.

"You should've left when you had the chance!"

Chen's hand flew to his gun. He didn't want to shoot McFree but he will if he had to.

"Fight it, Isaac!" Kara shouted as she was shoved behind Chen.

"You don't understand!" McFree shouted, sweat pouring form his skin. The familiar black slime oozed from his body. "You need to know." McFree gritted his teeth and groaned as he tried to fight back the mutation. "You think the harvesters are monsters. But you don't understand they do this because they have to. They only do what they have to do to survive and you can't stop them."

"Steven, wait!" Kara yelled as Chen aimed his M4 right at Isaac's chest and pulled the trigger. He watched as black liquid sprayed out of the bullets holes, black blood, but nothing happened. Steven's eyes widened in shock. Ignoring Osborn's and Dannick's protests, Chen immediately aimed the gun at McFree's face but Kara shoved the barrel back down.

"It's too late!" Chen snapped. "You can't save him!"

"YES WE CAN! We can stop this."

"No…you can't," McFree suddenly rasped. McFree opened his mouth once more but was cut off as the black slime finally engulfed his head.

-.-

Umar peeked out the window nervously. He knew the Quinteran soldiers were on their way. It was only a matter of time…

"What about Major Nova?" Umar asked. "Did you achieve your objective?"

"Yeah, the Major got away," Martin said from behind his cover. "We better bugger out of here, 'cause-"

He never got to finish his sentence as a loud roar rocked the ground followed by panicked yelling and screaming. Umar looked at the door to the basement in horror. He had sent Corin, Dannick, Chen and Osborn down there to get McFree. If McFree had mutated as they were unchaining him…

Umar ran for the basement, Martin and Hailey close behind him. But they had barely managed to take a step when they all dove for the ground as a hail of bullets suddenly ripped through the barricade, burning into the floor and wall of the building. They could see the small puffs of dust being kicked form the floor where the bullets hit all around them, shattered glass raining upon them. Even at a distance, the bangs of the guns were deafening, as if they were coming from inside the room. The barricade may be great at blocking line of sight but it was useless to stop the bullets.

They started crawling across the ground as more bullets flew in through the window. Crawling down a flight of stairs wasn't the easiest thing but they had no choice unless they wanted to get shot.

-.-

Several blocks down, Quinteran soldiers had opened fire on the sub-space station, their automatic weapons pelting the building. Four of the soldiers were raining fire on the station while the rest stood at the ready nearby. Nyrah and Daemon walked up from behind them men, scanning the scene.

"Status report?" Daemon demanded from a Quinteran soldier.

"They've managed hole up in the subspace station," the soldier said, handing Daemon a set of binoculars. He scanned the structure, recognizing the barricades in front of the windows.

"They have nowhere to run," Nyrah said with a smile as she watched the bullets tear holes into the building. "Shooting rats in a cage." Nyrah Krampus has slaughtered more than she could count in her life, gunned down hundreds of deserving aliens. This should be just as easy. She could already foresee her gunning down these humans.

"We should have the men form a perimeter to prevent their escape," Daemon suggested, putting away the binoculars.

"You go do that," Nyrah remarked lazily, even giving him a pat on the shoulder. "I'll do this…" She gestured at the soldier carrying the drone launcher, who stepped forward, took a knee, and took aim while the other Quinterans kept firing, keeping their pressure on.

Daemon gave Krampus a disapproving look. Her tactic was certainly faster and could produce the same results but it was risky. A building of that size certainly must have another door, one their enemy could sneak out through.

"I am familiar with your reputation, Colonel Krampus," Daemon said calmly, interrupting Nyrah before she could give the final order. "Your boldness and willingness to take risks is what led you to ascend the ranks but that is also what cost you that rank."

"I got where I was because I got the job done," Krampus snapped, storming up to him, fury roaring through her blood. Daemon simply looked back at her, his face in the same tired but determined scowl he always had. "And I lost my rank because of those humans down there. Those race-traitors blemished my record, disgraced my name. I'm a descendent of two of the original members of TR-1, the team that toppled the alien regimes that controlled this galaxy, cemented our place in the universe, and earned our position as the Fifth Race. I will continue my family's legacy! I will do whatever it takes, burn all that stand in my way, I will ensure that ALL will fall before the MIGHT of the FIFTH RACE!"

She whipped around toward the troops and without hesitation or second thought gave the order.

"FIRE!" There was a pop as a the drones flew right out of the launcher, the squid-like missile engulfed in a crackling field of black and purple energy that burned through the air. These drones could burn through the armored hull of a starship. The wall of a building was nothing. Nyrah watched as the drone as it rammed into the building, the wall shattering on impact and flying into the structure. A moment later, Nyrah watched as the entire building exploded, the ground trembling in terror as an inferno poured from the structure, hurling debris out the window, the door blown off its hinges and sent bouncing across the ground. An enormous mass of black smoke was sent billowing up into the air. The base of the metal antenna practically evaporated from the sheer heat as the rest of the antenna crumbled, crushing what was left of the building. As the roof and ceiling caved in the walls soon followed, sinking into the pit made by the explosion a steady cloud dust rising out of the rubble.

"One and done," Nyrah said with a smile. She glanced at Daemon. It seemed that her bold tactic triumphs again. "You can still have your men surround the crater if they want," she added, giving Daemon a pat on the shoulder as the men stood down. Daemon watched as Krampus waltzed off. She may have been satisfied but he was not.

"Form up!" he ordered. "Secure the area, make sure they did not get away."

The Quinterans lined up before the ruin. They raised their weapons and began to slowly approach the giant wall of smoke. Daemon leveled his shotgun and joined his men as they prepared to gun down anyone they saw as they descended upon the rubble.

-.-

Elsewhere in the city, Nova looked up as the explosion cracked the air. She could see the column of dust and smoke rising above the buildings. She looked back, knowing her team was back there. Her friends were back there. She removed her hand from her wound. Doing anything that used a stomach muscle sent sharp pains through her body. Every time she inhaled it felt as if a branding iron was put against her chest. She had done all she could to stop the bleeding but she still left a decently long trail of blood behind her and she was already starting to feel lightheaded. If any of the Quinterans found it they could follow it right to her. Then again, it shouldn't be a mystery where she might go.

Nova managed to stand up and look down upon the stargate. The overturned MALP was still there, covered in sand and dirt. Strangely enough, not a single Quinteran was there. No one was guarding the gate. She stumbled down the hill, hand still on her chest. She knew what she had to do: gate back to Millennium and come back with reinforcements. Mercer may be cold as ice but he should surely agree with the notion of 'no man left behind'.

She stopped in front of the DHD, prepping her GDO. But as she reached to press the first panel she froze. She leaned against the console.

It was a fool's errand, a suicide mission. But she couldn't leave her team behind. She looked back at the rising smoke before looking back at the stargate. Millennium was just a dial away. But it would take a while for amass the appropriate number of troops to arrive and she wouldn't be allowed to join.

Nyrah Krampus... Nova had already made one bad decision today and in doing so she had given away information about Millennium and left them in a vulnerable position. What would a second bad decision lead to? What would she lose if she made the wrong choice again?

She thought about her father, who died in a car crash. She thought about the first time she served on: SG-23. Their team leader was killed while fighting the Lucian Alliance and the other two members were killed by a Goa'uld-possessed wraith while they were serving on Atlantis. One of them was even fed upon in an attempt to save her.

Nova closed her eyes and gave a sigh as she finally made her decision. She would go save her friends. She had lost her pistol during the firefight from earlier but she found her hand drifting toward her knife. She didn't know what she could do but she was sure as hell going to try something.

"I can't lose another family."

-.-

Martin peeked out over a window on the third floor of a nearby building, looking down at the crater where their hiding place used to be. The Quinterans were searching the debris, looking for any bodies. Several of them had put away their guns and taken out machetes and bladed shovels as they combed the ruins and nearby buildings. Even from this distance he could hear some of their conversation.

"Colonels, we have yet to find any traces of their remains," one of the Quinteran soldiers said.

"Could they have been destroyed in the explosion?" Daemon asked gruffly.

"Unlikely. Even high yield explosions would produce human remains."

"Which means they got away!" Krampus snarled. "The humans are here somewhere!" she announced to all her subordinates. "Find the humans and slaughter them before I slaughter all of you!"

Martin watched as her troops immediately obeyed and began combing buildings around them.

"Well…This sucks," Martin muttered as he looked back at Dannick, who laid against a wall.

"So what now?" Dannick asked nervously. Martin wanted to answer but he wasn't sure himself. In the chaos of escaping McFree and the explosion and to find a place where they wouldn't be seen they had all gotten separated, the ones nearest the front running in different directions and the ones behind them picking someone and following them. It may have seemed like a stupid thing to do but this was usually how soldiers would become MIA on a battlefield, in their panic desperation they would dash for the for safe place they see and not notice the person beside them was running a different direction.

"Protocol states that in a situation like this we should head back to Millennium and come back with a more appropriate force," Martin said. He looked at Dannick, who looked absolutely terrified. Martin couldn't really blame him. Even soldiers have cracked under the pressures of combat, trained individuals who went out knowing what could happen and they'll still crack. He couldn't blame an untrained civilian to not handle situations like these very well.

Dannick knew Martin could see that. He was scared. One bullet was all it took and it would be lights out for good.

"Sorry, I'm not good in these situations," Dannick stuttered.

"Oi, mate," Martin said to Dannick. "You got a favorite movie? Or videogame? Book?"

"What?" Dannick stuttered. This was the last question he expected from Martin. They were being hunted my murderous humans and he was asking about movies?

"Talk to me, mate," Martin said impatiently as he watched Daemon begin combing the debris himself.

"Well, I like crime dramas," Dannick stuttered, not sure where to start.

"To each his own I guess," Martin muttered. "Alright, and in these shows they go through some firefights and the sort, right? When you get down to it, this isn't really that different than that. Granted we're in a science fiction, not a crime drama, but it's still bad guys trying to shoot the good guys."

"I…I guess."

"So not that bad. Anytime a firefight starts just think that you're in one of those scenes or something else that you like to watch. It's just a trick I use in buggered situations like these. It's a way to help keep your cool once the bullets start flying."

"You don't expect me to help fight, do you?" Dannick suddenly asked in panic.

"No, but I do need you to keep your head on once things start hitting the fan. If you start panicking you start making bad choices. Until then, we need to stay hidden as long as possible; at least we weren't seen," he added as he looked out the window again, careful to make sure he wasn't obvious.

The Quinterans were still searching the ruins and the surrounding buildings. It was then he noticed one of them was knelt down with a controller in his hand.

"What the…" Martin muttered, eyeing the Quinteran suspiciously. Why was he on the ground with what looked like a smart phone and not searching the buildings with his comrades? He was so transfixed on this one person that it wasn't until the answer flew up into his face was he thrown back into reality. A massive silver disk had floated up to the window. It didn't have any visible cameras or lights but Martin knew exactly what it was. Quinterans had used UAV's to explore planets before. After getting Ancient technology and finding their 'kinos', the Quinterans incorporated kino technology into their UAV's. No longer using the small silvery orbs, they now used massive silvery disks to hunt down their prey.

"Ah, bugger my ass, you gotta be kidding me!" Martin exclaimed.

-.-

On the ground, the Quinteran technician looked up from his PDA and at Daemon.

"Got him," the field technician said. Daemon looked up at the building where their enemy hid. His solid gaze remained unchanged, even after knowing where his enemies were.

"Put the recon-drone into battle mode and open fire," Daemon ordered. He reached back and pulled his shotgun from his back and looked at his troops. "You two, with me!"

-.-

Martin watched as the silver disk transformed before his eyes, the disk morphing and transforming into a spider-like machine, eight long spindly legs dangling below its body. Four claw-like mandibles rubbed together in the front, right below a pair of cannons that extended from its body. A mass of tentacles waved behind it with a single whip-like tail. The drone turned and faced its target, weapons locked on.

Martin dove to the ground as the robot opened fire, a shotgun blast tearing into the walls of the room. Dannick fell to the floor with his hands on his ears. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins, his eyes wide with horror as the energy-encased projectiles smashed through the walls. Dust sprinkled over him as the walls disintegrated on impact, the wood turning to splinters and the concrete walls crumbling to powder. His whole body was paralyzed with fear.

"Just like movies…" Dannick muttered, his body barely easing up. "Just like the movies…" He couldn't stay there on the ground. He had to get to cover. Dannick stayed down and crawled behind a nearby desk. It wasn't much and would probably melt from a single blast. They both had to get out of there. He looked up and examined the room. The door was wide open and the stairs were right in view. All they needed to do was get to it.

Martin was pinned down, hiding behind a cement column by the oncoming hell storm of bullets, the pillar slowly crumbling from the weapons fire. "C'mon, Martin!" Dannick yelled, crawling for the door. "We have to get out of here!"

Martin was firing blindly at the recon disc, the crackling bolts of energy streaking by harmlessly. A single bolt form an ion rifle may have had the power of a grenade but it didn't matter if those bolts didn't hit anything. It was a time for a change of plan. Martin set the ion rifle to maximum yield and fired it at the ground directly under the drone. It might've been overkill but the explosion blasted a ole in the floor and sent both him and the drone flying in opposite directions. Charles yelled in pain, dropping his gun and covering his ears.

Seeing his companion on the ground, Dannick rushed over, tapping him on the shoulder. Dannick helped Martin stumble to his feet. He was waiting for Charles to recover but, instead, Martin immediately grabbed Dannick by the hand and bolted out of the room. The explosion may have tossed the drone out of the building but it did not destroy it. The flying death machine flew back into the building to continue the fight.

"The stairs are back that way!" Dannick yelled as he stumbled through the doorway. Another shotgun blast ripped through the building.

It took every ounce of mental strength for Dannick not to not collapse in terror as dust flew from the ground right in front of him as the bullets punched through the concrete.

"I got a better idea!" Martin called out, aiming his ion rifle at the wall ahead. With the weapon set to max, he fired. The concrete and wood exploded into a plume of dust and smoke as the wall fell to pieces like a wrecking ball through Lego's. There was a single story building below. It was a hell of a fall but compared to running upstairs and getting cornered or running downstairs and getting pincered by Daemon and his drone, this was the only way out.

They all yelled in fear as they jumped out of the third story. Technically they only had to fall one story and with the extra height of the roof they would definitely survive the fall.

Martin let out a pained 'oof' as he hit the roof followed by Dannick. Charles didn't even give them time to recover as he sprung to his feet and hauled Dannick off the roof and into the streets. The fall may not be lethal but it was painful as they hit the pavement.

Daemon and his two troops had reached the third floor. They stood at the edge of the hole and were spraying the area. The alleys were not in direct line of sight and the Quinterans were trying to blind fire through the building.

"We have to get back to the gate!" Martin yelled, dust spraying out of the wall and into his face as the bullets just barely missed him.

"What about the others?!" Dannick asked between battered breathe.

'Never leave a man behind.'

Martin remembered that phrase. Every instinct told him he should stay behind and help his friend. Just leaving was against everything he believed in. It wasn't right. If the Major had asked him to choose between staying and leaving he would vote to stay. But he wasn't second in command at the moment; he was in charge.

"We can't help them if we get killed," Martin finally said. "We gotta get back to the gate. The others will be fine!"

-.-

If only he knew…

Hailey and Corin snuck through the alley ways. They knew the Quinterans were hunting them like animals. She hated running. She was a fighter; always was. She wanted to stand her ground and take the Quinteran on but that was suicide.

Hailey remembered fighting what few jaffa that remained loyal to the Goa'uld back in the Milky Way, how they fell after a burst of bullets. SG mission reports talking about their fights with Jaffa, wraith, and Lucian Alliance pirates, how it would take over a dozen of them to even last against an SG team. SG-1's kill count was legendary. But here, in this galaxy, they were spending more time running and hiding. The mere act of taking on the enemy was an accomplishment. They couldn't fight; they had to run. They had no choice.

She stopped for a moment and put her hand to her radio. They hadn't seen the rest of either team since getting separated. She wanted to radio them. But what if they were hiding from the Quinterans and the sudden crackle of the radio leads them to getting caught?

"Jennifer, c'mon!" Corin said, breaking her out of her stupor. She had let go of her radio and was about to get moving but something else felt wrong. As she looked up, she glanced behind her, looking up at the rooftop of the building behind them.

"Oh no," she muttered. Corin also turned around, immediately understanding what Hailey was worried about as his eyes fell upon the towering monstrous figure that was Isaac McFree. It had been hunting them for the past several minutes. Realizing it had been seen, the creature stood up, a fully mutated beast that bore little to no resemblance to a human, an extra pair of mandibles growing form its lower jaw, scales forming what looked like gills on its neck.

"Isaac?" Corin asked cautiously, stepping forward.

"Corin, get back!" Hailey hissed but Nevec wasn't listening. If there was even a remote chance Isaac McFree was in there somewhere, he had to try to reach out to him.

Hailey knew this was Corin's plan, and she wanted to save him more than anyone, but this idea was madness. Still, what if Corin actually succeeds?

McFree slowly crawled down the side of the building, clinging to the wall like a spider before reaching the ground.

Corin was about to approach but Hailey quickly pushed him back and stepped in front of him. She was military, she was the one who puts her life on the line first. Besides, if Isaac was in there somewhere, he'll more likely to recognize her.

"Isaac?" she said softly. She kept her pistol trained on him as she reached out with her other hand. She wished she had something more than a pistol, considering she knew that was it was ineffective against harvesters' scaled hide. But, something was different. She looked into his eyes, realizing that these weren't the slit monster eyes but human eyes. He was in there.

Her hand was just about to touch Isaac's snout. She was just about to make a connection. But then, Isaac closed his eyes as if he was wincing in pain. Its eyes opened once more and Hailey stared right into the yellow slit eyes of the creature as it assumed full control.

The beast let out a roar the shook the planet before backhanding the two of them. The two humans went flying through the air before crashing onto the hood of a car, the glass shattering and hood warping on impact. They both got up but while Corin prepared to run, Hailey didn't.

"Get to the gate!" Hailey ordered, prepping her pistol. "I'll hold him off!"

Corin gave a reluctant nod as he took out his pistol and handed to Hailey.

"Careful out there," he said before taking off down the road. They both knew the monster McFree turned into was faster than any of them. This was the only way.

Jennifer looked at her friend. She wanted to keep trying, to keep Corin by her side and try to get to Isaac. He was in there; they just learned for a fact that he was in there somewhere. But, if she stays to fight him she only risks her life while if she tries to connect with him she risks both their lives. She could not do this.

"Sorry, Isaac," she muttered. The creature let out a roar as Hailey began her advance, opening fire at the monster's eye.

-.-

Corin stumbled and tripped down the road to the gate. The stargate was the main mode of transportation between planets so it made sense that the biggest road led straight to it. People would park beside the DHD and dial their destination.

He knew the commotion of Hailey fighting McFree would attract the Quinterans. He could only pray that that Hailey could escape and pray that the Quinterans wouldn't catch up to him.

Too late…

Corin had barely caught a glimpse of some motion out of the corner of his eye. He probably wouldn't have even though anything of it if it wasn't charging at him. He looked at whatever was rushing after him and his eyes widened when he realized it was Nyrah charging at him full speed. He gave surprised yell and fell backwards as she brought her maul down upon him. There was loud clank that echoed through the air as she narrowly missed him, the axe-end of the weapon embedding itself into the car. Corin took that opportunity to crawl away and made a mad dash for the nearby building. Nyrah tried to pull her maul out. The blade was really stuck in there and it needed just as much effort and force to yank it out. With a grunt she tore her weapon from the hood of the car but Corin had already run away. She grumbled in frustration as she made her way into the building.

"Come on out, Corin!" Nyrah called out teasingly. "You're just gonna die tired."

Nyrah didn't even bother using her gun. It would've been easier to simply shoot Corin but not as fun.

-.-

Corin found himself sprinting through a seemingly endless maze of hallways. This was some sort of apartment building. Hopefully the rooms will give him an opportunity to hide and sneak past Nyrah and get to the stargate. He finally slowed to a stop as he took a moment to try to get his bearings.

He looked in either direction, trying to figure how where Nyrah could be. She was knocking the walls with her weapon, the thumping signaling her approach and his inevitable death. He ducked into the stairwell at the side as Nyrah Krampus came around the corner, maul in hand. The floor creaked with every step she took as she came ever closer to Corin. She knew that he could be anywhere in this building, in any of the rooms. She had to hunt him down.

Corin tried to slow his breathing, or at least not breathe as loudly. He practically jumped out of his skin when the next thud was on the other side of the wall. He couldn't stay there. He couldn't tell if Nyrah was still randomly hitting the wall or if she was mocking him and telling him she knew he was on the stairs. He had to get out of there. He didn't want to go upstairs but it doesn't seem like he had a choice. Corin made his way up as quietly as he could. He picked up his foot and gently set it on the next step, trying to muffle his footstep the best he could. He glanced behind him, half expecting Krampus to be standing behind him. But it seemed that she had not noticed him yet. He continued up the stairs, making sure the she couldn't hear a single footstep. He had just reached the stop and it seemed like he was in the clear. But as he put his foot on the top step, the degrading wood gave a long creak.

"Crap," Corin muttered. There was no way Nyrah didn't hear that. He wanted to run, just run for his life; but this would make more noise. Instead, hemade a silent dash into the nearby room. Nyrah was a lot less quiet as she stomped up the stairs. When she reached the top she scanned the floor. It seemed like Corin had escaped again but she knew better. The old building hasn't been ventilated in decades and the degrading red carpet was covered in a fine layer of dust and sand. A wicked smile spread over her face as she eyed the streaks in the soot right in front of a door. That door had recently been opened and closed.

"You know, Corin," Nyrah called out as she walked up to the closed door and tested the handle. "If you wanted to hide from me you shouldn't have closed the door behind you…"

From inside the room Corin cursed to himself. There was nowhere to run now. He started rummaging the empty apartment in a desperate attempt to find something to brace the door, expecting Nyrah to use her maul to mash it down. Instead, with an earsplitting bang, Nyrah blasted a hole where the door knob used to be, the shredded metal sent flying across the room and out the window. She kicked the door open as she slung her rifle back over her shoulder, smoke still rising from the underslung shotgun.

"End of the line, Corin," Nyrah chuckled, brandishing the maul.

Corin looked around in panic, realizing that he had nothing to defend himself with. He desperately picked up a wooden chair and held it up in front of him. But, with a single swing, Nyrah destroyed the chair and sent the splinters flying. Corin ducked as she swung again, the maul flying above his head. He made a break for the door but felt a hand grab the back of his shirt and pull him back. As he stumbled backwards there was a fleshy crack as his head hit the corner of a metal table and his unconscious body hit the ground with a thud.

Krampus crouched down atop of Corin and rolled his body over, blood trickling from his forehead. She was almost sad about finishing him…almost.

She flipped the maul so its axe head was facing forwards. She lifted it up, preparing to bring it down on his head and split it like a melon.

"NYRAH!" a voice called out. Nyrah froze upon hearing her name. She knew that voice. She lowered her maul and turned around. There she was; Terra Nova stood in the doorway, combat knife in hand. She had dropped her tactical vest since it now served as a hindrance and turned her BDU into a makeshift bandage to wrap around the wound in her stomach leaving her in a sweat-soaked black shirt. It wasn't perfect but it was the best she could do. Regardless, she must've lost a lot of blood by this point.

Nova kept her eye on the rifle slung over Nyrah's shoulder. The knife could beat the gun but only if she can get close. The twenty foot rule: a person with a knife could traverse a distance of roughly twenty feet and get a stab off in the time it takes for a person to draw and fire a gun. She was definitely a lot closer than twenty feet but charging an armed person still wasn't ideal. Depending on how the fight goes, Nyrah could still stuff her with bullets. Nova considered running, leading Nyrah away from Corin. But, she was in the perfect range to charge in and attack. If she runs she'll lose this advantage.

"I'll admit, you're even stronger than I gave you credit for," Nyrah remarked, thinking back to when she shot Nova.

"You'd be surprised what I can do when you threaten my family," Nova replied.

"Oh him?" Nyrah asked, casually gesturing towards him with the maul. "It wouldn't have hurt. You maybe, but not him."

"If you want to hurt me, here I am…"

Nyrah raised an eyebrow, surprised Nova would put herself forward like that.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. And you might wanna hurry before Daemon comes to spothat mucil your fun."

A smile spread over Nyrah's mouth as she unslung her rifle and put it on the table. She removed the holster that held her pistol and did the same. This was exactly what Nova had hoped: to use Nyrah's bloodlust to give her a fighting chance against the Quinteran officer. She might still lose but it would buy

"I am going to enjoy this," Krampus chuckled, prepping her maul.

"Then let's do this!" Nova yelled, raising her combat knife. Formalities were out the window. Knife in hand, Nova rushed forward and Krampus charged at her, maul raised. A maul was bulkier and had a longer range but it was slower and if she got close enough then Nyrah would have a trouble putting the breaching tool into her skull.

With a quick feint, Nova tricked Krampus into swinging her maul. Nova saw her opening and charged in. She tried to bring the knife down upon Nyrah's head but the Quinteran soldier blocked her hand with the handle of the maul before swinging it sideways and slamming the butt of the handle into Nova's jaw.

Terra Nova jumped back as Krampus swung her maul upwards, the axe head smashing into the ceiling, dust and plaster raining down on the two of them. Krampus adjusted her grip and pulled the maul out of the ceiling and down to the floor, attempting to smash the top of Nova's head with it in the process.

This room was too close quarters to fight in. With furniture and splintered remains of a table over the ground, it was too difficult to maneuver. Nova turned and ran into the hall. She glanced back and it was a good thing she did. Major Nova dove to the ground as the maul flew over her head and embedded itself into the opposite wall with a crash.

Nova picked herself back up just in time to see Krampus rush at her. Nyrah Krampus always carried an array of knives; from daggers to combat knives to throwing knives. Nova just caught a glimpse of the curved claw-like blade Krampus held in her hand, the blade curving forward from the bottom of the fist.

She gave a yell as the blade sliced through her ribcage. Nova grasped her open wound as she turned to face Krampus, who smiled as she twirled her blade.

-.-

Hailey jumped into a building right as the wall exploded and McFree came barreling through. He was stronger, faster, and had a thousand times tougher than she was. Her only option was to turn tail and run and pray that he'll mutate back into a human sometime soon.

She turned around and fired the last of her bullets, her berretta 92's clicking as their hammers hit empty chambers. She tossed the now empty guns aside as she turned and made a dash for the front door. The harvester monster may be faster but barreling through walls slowed him down.

Tunnel vision from the adrenaline and panic were beginning to set in as her legs moved as fast as they could carry her. She could see the door growing in size. She was going to make it.

She let out a surprised yell as a massive claw seized her leg and tossed her into the ceiling. Jennifer came crashing back down, the pipes, wires, and tiles from the ceiling coming down with her. There was no fighting this thing. She was advanced in hand to hand but that didn't matter when fighting an alien monster.

Isaac rolled Hailey over and grabbed her head, his mutated claw so large its palm covered her entire face. He let out a roar and threw her at the window. The glass shattered and she felt her brain whip back in her skull as she hit the pavement. She gave a weak cough as she sat up, gripping her left arm. She looked up to find the massive beast already standing over her.

Her mind was racing as she tried to think of a way to turn the tides of this already lost battle. What would Carter do? She would find a way to adapt and improvise. What did Hailey have on her that she could use? There was one thing on her that she could think of. It was risky but she was dead if she didn't do anything anyways.

"You know, Isaac," Hailey remarked, struggling to stand up as she reached for her belt. McFree crawled right up to her, so close she could feel his breath. "You always were a pain in the ass." There was a slight click as she finally pulled the item off her belt. She didn't know if it would work or not, but it was her last trick. "I had a hell of a career though. Nearly got expelled from the Air Force Academy. I'll admit I can be hot headed but it was a hell of an adventure. So you know what, let's end this with a bang." She held up her hand, holding a flashbang right in front of McFree's eye. The pin dangled from her thumb so she simply let the lever fly off. Hailey closed her eyes and looked away, knowing what was about to happen. The flashbang went off in her hand. Even with her eyes closed, the flash of light still penetrated her eyelids. She couldn't tell if she was still standing, stumbling, or just rolling on the ground. It felt as if the whole world was spinning and tossing her about, her ears ringing from the deafening noise.

Hailey may have been stunned by her own flashbang but her plan worked. Harvesters had enhanced vision and hearing. They could see and hear better than any other creature. This also meant they were a lot more sensitive too. The blinding light became searing pain in his eyes, like someone had jabbed them with a branding iron. The deafening bang that would stun a human practically imploded his ears drums. He let out roar and collapsed to the ground.

Hailey was still dazed but she knew she couldn't stay. She began feeling around, trying to get her bearing. She could hear some sort of bubbling but couldn't tell what it was. It wasn't until her hand brushed against a human foot did she realize Isaac had mutated back into a human. She gave a weak smile. Whatever the flashbang did, it triggered his mutation.

She stumbled to get to her feet, keeping her right hand on his shoulder so she would know where he was. With a grunt, she hauled his unconscious body against hers. Her left arm was busted so she was going to have to make do. Still, she still had trouble walking. The world was still wobbling and she could only take a few steps forward before stopping again.

She was about to take another step when she felt a firm hand put on her shoulder. The Quinterans had caught up. Her hand flew to her dagger that she instantly unsheathed and prepared to stab whatever was behind her.

"At ease, ma'am," Commander Umar said comfortingly, taking the knife out of her hand before it met its mark. Hailey felt a wave of relief flow through her body at his voice. Chen and Osborn quickly came up beside her and took McFree. The Dusk Riders have had enough adventure for one day. "C'mon, let's go home…"

Hailey smiled at the sound of that. Osborn and Chen helped carry McFree as Hailey kept a hand on Umar's shoulder so she could tell where she's going as the five of them made their way to the stargate. They might just be able to get out of this nightmare after all.

-.-

Nova slashed at Nyrah but with Krampus's insane speeds dashed passed Nova's blade and slashed her shoulder. Nova turned around and took a stab but Krampus slashed open Nova's wrist.

They continued slashing at each other, leaning back to avoid the other's blade and rushing in to exploit the opening. Nova may have been a competent fighter but she was completely outclassed. She found herself getting pushed back.

She took another step back and felt a chill run down her spine. She had reached the end of the hall, her back pressed against the window to the outside. Krampus charged in, knowing Nova had nowhere to go. Terra Nova was able to block the incoming blade just in time, jamming her wrists against Nyrah's, the blade stopping right in front of Nova's face. Krampus pushed against the knife, and Nova pushed back but she knew that there was no way she could win the pushing match and the tip of the blade was getting ever closer to her face. Nova was butchered and Nyrah hadn't received a scratch.

"Don't fight it, Terra," Nyrah said with a smile. "You dug your grave the moment you decided to challenge the Fifth Race." Nova gritted her teeth as she tried to force the knife back to no avail. She had lost too much blood.

It is often said that a person's life flashed before their eyes right before they died. It seemed to certainly be true now. And the only thing that flashed in her mind was her childhood and every action that she regretted to this day. She remembered earlier in the mission, when it looked like a mutant Isaac McFree was about to kill her she accepted it. She remembered previous missions where she was prepared to accept her death when most would fight to the end. She had always been so overwhelmed by guilt over who she used to be and what she caused that whenever it looked like she was about to die, she was more than happy to accept it. But she couldn't now. Her friends, her family, were in danger. She put her new family into this and she was not exiting until she fixed it.

"Payback's a bitch, isn't it?" Krampus teased with a smile.

"Yeah?" Nova asked as her head was pressed against the window, and idea suddenly springing to her mind. "Well, so am I!" Nova shouted as she finally let go of the blade. She moved her head to the side but only slightly, Nyrah's knife plunging into her shoulder. Krampus tried to pull her blade out but Nova held it in with her left hand as she jammed her dagger into Nyrah's forearm. Krampus roared in pain as Nova proceeded to drag the blade through Krampus's arm. Distracted by the gnash in her arm, Nova grabbed Krampus by the collar and, with every ounce of strength she had left, flung her out the window, the glass shattering and Krampus landing on the ground outside with a thump. It was doubtful that a fall like that was lethal but it would at least buy her some times to get Corin and escape.

Nova collapsed to the ground, hand on her wound. If she hadn't lost much blood before, she certainly had now. She had begun to feel freezing and her vision was blurring fast. She hadn't gone far from the room Corin were left in but stumbling back was painstaking. The hall seemed to be rocking back and forth as if it was trying to slow her down. She grabbed the door frame as she reached the room and looked inside. Corin had just sat up and put his hand to the wound on his head, giving a pained groan.

"Corin?!" she called out. She gave a sigh of relief when she saw him getting to his feet.

"Terra, what happened to you?" Corin stuttered when he saw her. His head was killing him and merely moving made if feel as if his brain was being tossed about, but he immediately rushed to Terra's side.

"Hey, girls just wanna have fun," Nova remarked with a small laugh, trying to shrug it all off. But she could not hide her injuries. Corin let Nova lean on him for support as they hobbled out of the building. The first breath Nova took outside was a breath of relief. But she knew they weren't out of the woods yet.

"There're the others!" Nova called out when she saw the five figures walking down the road in the distance. Corin could already feel the burst of excitement shoot through his body, knowing their escape was once step closer. He was relieved to see Hailey and McFree among them, glad she survived and managed to subdue him.

They wanted to call out but they knew the Quinterans were still here somewhere. They waved their hands erratically, hoping one of the five would notice. Fortunately, Umar was still on alert. Noticing Corin and Nova behind them, he and the crew all paused so the two could catch up.

"You look no worse for wear, ma'am," Umar remarked when he saw how beaten up Nova was.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Nova replied. As the leaders, their teams looked to them for inspiration especially in a dark moment. These little quips always helped lighten the mood, to say they were bloodied, beaten, and downed, but not out.

"Hey," Chen called out impatiently. "We still got baddies lookin' for us. Can we get a move on? The gate's just down the road."

There was absolutely no disagreement in that. They had managed to find McFree and each other but they still weren't out of the woods.

"Wait a minute," Corin suddenly interjected. "Where're Dannick and Charles?"

"We don't know," Hailey said, shaking her head.

"We're in no condition to go looking for them," Umar said. "I'm sorry but we have to get back to Millennium and have General Mercer send more troops." Corin looked at Nova, hoping she would take his side. She opened her mouth to do just that but stopped. She wanted to stay and search for the remaining two but Umar was right. They were in no position to do this.

"I don't think we have to," Osborn suddenly chirped, pointing in the distance. They all looked in the same direction. It didn't take them long to see two people making a mad dash toward them. A smile spread across everyone's face when they saw this. They were all going to make it out of here after all.

But Chen knew otherwise…

"Something's wrong," he said, prepping his gun. He watched the two suspiciously. His eyes heart plunged as a mob of Quinteran soldiers appeared behind them in hot pursuit.

"Little problem here!" Martin cried out in panic. He was more than happy to see his friends but that still didn't get rid of the problem chasing them.

Something suddenly whizzed by him, striking him on the shoulder and sending him stumbling to the ground. He looked up and spotted the hatchet that had been hurled at him. He got back up merely to find himself staring down the barrel of a Quinteran rifle. The ion rifle was on the ground next to him but grabbing it would've been suicide. He slowly raised his hands as he rose to his feet. He didn't want to surrender but he had no choice.

More Quinterans suddenly came out from hiding. They had given up on searching and instead had decided to wait in the one place they knew their prey would go. Even Krampus came out from behind a building, holding her bleeding arm. Colonel Daemon stepped out from behind his men, his trap springing exactly as he had hoped. They were completely surrounded. They had all thought the Quinterans didn't leave the road to the gate guarded but they were wrong.

Chen and Umar pointed their weapons but didn't fire. They were so close. They had McFree, they were all together, and the gate was just down the road. So close yet so far.

"Well, you put up quite a fight," Krampus laughed. Daemon slowly walked up with shotgun in hand and shoved Martin and Dannick back with their friends.

"Chen, put your gun down," Nova suggested. Chen and Umar both gave her a surprised and disapproving look, not wanting to just surrender. But they had no choice. They were surrounded and were in no condition to fight.

"Oh, don't bother," Krampus suddenly chirped. "We're not in the mood for taking prisoners."

Nova felt her heart sink. She was hoping Krampus was still in her sadistic mood. Apparently even she has run out of patience.

"Kill them all," Daemon ordered flatly. The Quinteran soldiers gave a nod and took aim. Chen and Umar immediately aimed back and prepared to open fire. It was a losing battle but they were going to go down fighting. The two of them pressed their guns tight against their shoulder, ready to open fire, ready to take down as many Quinteran berserkers as they could.

At least they were going to…

Chen and Umar both suddenly lowered their guns, their eyes widening in horror. Corin and Nova stared into the distance. Her jaw dropped in fear at what she beheld. Even the cowardly Dannick became more transfixed on this unseen menace than the Quinterans about to shoot them.

Seeing this, the berserkers began exchanging nervous glances. There was something clearly wrong. Krampus and Daemon could sense it too. They both turned around and they immediately understood.

None of them had seen it. None of them had even noticed it. The sun had just about set, the blood red star now hidden behind a massive shadowy wall of creatures, squabbling monsters of every size and shape gathered behind them, their glowing red eyes piercing the shadows and staring down upon their prey. A crowd of hellish creatures stared down upon them.

 _"When it's silent, I can hear them: whispers in the back of my mind. They are coming. The Harvesters are coming."_ McFree had said this earlier and he was right. The harvesters had arrived.

"Open fire!" one of the Quinteran soldiers screamed in fear. "Everyone shoot!"

"Let's go!" Nova yelled. This was their one opportunity to escape and they were taking it. Even Krampus and Daemon were busy firing at the oncoming monsters. Smaller hellish dog-like reptiles were rushing across the ground and getting blasted back by the oncoming gunfire. Larger monstrous snakes slithered across the ground, lunging at their prey. Nova didn't know if this was a blessing or a curse for the harvesters to show up at that exact moment but they were taking advantage of it.

Umar ran ahead to dial the gate, punching in each symbol as quickly as possible as Chen prepped the GDO. The giant ring hummed to life as its white opal chevrons locked in each symbol.

"C'mon, move faster," Chen growled through his teeth, cursing how long it took for the gate to find and lock in each symbol.

"Uhh…what is that?" Dannick suddenly called out. Hailey and Martin looked up. In the distance they could see a massive wall of gray gas engulfing the landscape and headed right for them. It was chilling to see something of that size, a massive dark cloud hundreds of stories high. It looked like an all-consuming storm cloud covering the land. They remembered that the first move into harvesting a planet was to cover it in a gas that would incapacitate everyone that breathes it in. They had to get out of there before the gas reaches them.

Umar pressed the last chevron and pressed the center white dome, activating the stargate. The warm blue light from the open wormhole was a massive comfort.

"This is General Mercer," a voice suddenly came through the radio. "What is your situation with Doctor McFree?"

"This is Commander Umar. Situation is critical. Raise the barrier! We're coming through."

Osborn and Chen took McFree and immediately went through the wormhole. They didn't know if Mercer had raised the barrier or not but they couldn't wait. Umar and Hailey went through next. Martin and Dannick soon followed. Nova and Corin were about to go in when a yell behind them caught their attention.

"NOVA!" Krampus roared. She and Daemon had withdrawn from the slaughter and made their way to the gate. "I look forward to seeing you again!"

Nova didn't even bother responding. She couldn't finish the fight even if she wanted to and she knew once they were gone there was plenty of time for Nyrah and Daemon to dial out. Corin helped Nova turn around and hobble through the gate.

-.-

"Seal the barrier," Mercer ordered as Nova and Corin came through. The beam from the Asgard transport lit up and reformed the solid cover over the gate. He was not happy about this turnabout. Doctors were already en route. He immediately went down the stairs to meet the two teams.

Kauffman led in the doctors with stretchers.

"Kauffman, get Doctor McFree and Major Nova into surgery!" Osborn ordered. The nurses lay McFree onto a stretcher and helped Nova lay down on another one. She was about to follow them back to the infirmary when Kauffman suddenly stood in front of her.

"What're you doing?!" Osborn demanded to know.

"I will head the surgery," Kauffman said.

"What're you talking about?"

"Doctor, you are exhausted. It is clear that the mission did not fare well. I will perform the surgery."

Osborn wanted to protest but she knew he was right. They couldn't afford to make mistakes during surgery. She was tired both physically and mentally and couldn't even hold a pencil steady let alone a scalpel.

"Alright," she said. Kauffman gave a firm nod before turning around and rushing to the infirmary.

"Donavan," Mercer called. "Get security. I want guards in McFree's operating room, all armed with alien weaponry."

"Yes sir," Donavan barked.

-.-

Umar, Hailey, Dannick, Martin, Nevec, and Chen all had rather simple wounds and were treated at the infirmary. Nova's and McFree's were a bit more complicated. Osborn was still irritated that she couldn't help with the surgery but she knew they couldn't risk having a surgeon tired and worn down from a mission. She watched the surgeries from an observation window, knowing Kauffmann had it all under control.

"Doctor," General Mercer greeted as he walked in behind her. He stepped up to the window and looked down upon the operation rooms. "What are their conditions?"

Osborn looked at McFree's operation room as she explained.

"We're removing the parasite attached to McFree's neck. It seems to share some similarities with Goa'uld symbiotes so we have some idea of what we're doing."

"Have you determined what the cause of his mutation was to begin with?" Mercer asked. It may have seemed cruel to be willing to leave the Dusk Riders and Wolf Pack on the planet but none of them knew the capabilities of the mutant harvester McFree transformed into and Mercer's first and foremost responsibility was to the expedition.

"It seemed like the parasite was the cause of all of it. We haven't finished extracting it but we have been able to swab what appears to be venom glands. It was chock full of different viruses: retroviruses, adenoviruses, lentiviruses, even some we can't identify."

"What does that mean, Doctor?"

"Those are viruses we use in gene therapy. I think the parasite used these viruses to rewrite McFree's DNA. Some of the unidentified ones might even be the reason he was able to mutate so quickly. The thing is, the DNA transcribed on some of these viruses are completely unstable. Its chromosomes were already breaking down when we looked at them. I think that's why he kept transforming between human and harvester. The harvester's DNA was unstable would've soon died."

"So you are sure he will not mutate once the parasite is extracted."

"Positive. Another thing…we've been using some of the Alliance computers to analyze the Harvester DNA before it broke down. It looks like that whatever McFree transforms into was telepathic. Our theory was correct."

"You suspect that this was the reason the harvesters arrived?"

"I think so. When we first encountered the harvesters, they captured McFree but they let him go. I think after they put the parasite in him to learn about us. The parasite would mutate Doctor McFree into a harvester for as long as possible then mutate him back into a human so it wouldn't kill the host."

"This sounds like speculation," Mercer commented, staring into the operation room. Several guards kept their aim on McFree with ion rifles, blast cannons, and X-699's.

Kara gave a sigh. The General was right. This was all just speculation.

"It's what makes the most sense," she said.

"And what of Major Nova?" he asked, looking into her operation room. Osborn also walked over.

"First off, she's going to need a blood transfusion for sure. As for the bullet, it's pretty close to several of her vital organs. Normally I would recommend leaving the bullet there but Qinteran bullets seem to emit some sort of energy that lets it burn through objects. Hailey theorizes that this was inspired by Ancient drones. Right now the bullet lodged in her is burning her organs which is why we have to get it out. Her recovery will take the longest. McFree will be second longest and I advise a psychological evaluation. I have no idea what this process has done to his mind."

Mercer fell silent as he thought about the scenario.

"Doctor, tell me, can you extract the bullet in Major Nova without damaging it?" the General asked.

"With how much damage it's doing, the best course of action is to disable the bullet before removing it."

"No, tell Doctor Kauffman I want the bullet to be removed intact and sent to the science labs." Osborn felt a surge of anger rush through her blood upon hearing this. While removing the bullet without damaging it was possible, it was harder, would probably result in more damage to her organs, and would need an even longer recovery time. Not to mention, all surgery ran the risk of complications and leaving the bullet intact would increase that risk several times over.

"General, I really must protest," Kara said.

"Is it possible to remove the bullet without killing her?"

"Well…yeah, but-"

"Doctor Osborn, it has become abundantly apparent that the challenges we will face in this galaxy will be nothing like what we have faced before and we must be ready. You just stated Major Nova can survive so what whatever she does sacrifice will benefit the rest of this expedition."

"Yes, sir" she finally said in defeat. Mercer glanced into Nova's operation room once more. The anesthesia had finally kicked in and the doctors were preparing to cut her open. There was nothing more for him to see here. Without another word, Mercer turned and left the room.

-.-

When you talk to people who have gone through surgery, they talk about how the doctor tells them to count backwards from ten, and that they never reach zero. Nova had barely reached seven, or was it six? Either way, she was out. And, just like she was told, the next thing she remembered was waking up. At least she thinks she woke up.

She gave a startled gasp and bolted straight up. She looked around her, realizing something was different. She wasn't in the infirmary like she expected. She wasn't even on the Millennium. The entire world around her was pitch black, the only source of light coming from the glowing water beneath her that she somehow sat upon as if it was a solid surface. She slowly stood up, no longer in a hospital gown but in a blue T-shirt and jeans. She looked around, not sure which direction to go, all of this seem eerily familiar. Then she remembered: this was just like the hallucination she had when she first met the Furlings. She looked around, expecting a figure to appear and talk to her like last time but there seemed to be no one. Then she noticed someone standing on the horizon. It was...it couldn't be…

"General Hammond?" Nova breathed. She had only heard stories of the legendary George Hammond, only seen his picture, the first General in charge of the SGC. He had died because of a heart attack, yet here he was standing before her. But something seemed off. He seemed…sad…disappointed.

"Wait!" Nova called out when he turned around and began walking away. She immediately ran after him. Why would the Furlings show her this? As she finally caught up to Hammond, she realized he had changed. It was no longer Hammond but a Quinteran soldier. At least she thought it was. But then she noticed the SGC patch on its shoulder. The Furlings may be giving them a chance to prove themselves but they still had their reservations. She remembered she begged the Furlings to give them a chance because she believed in humanity. She hadn't lost faith, but only now had she begun to realize just how bad things could be as she stared at the figure in front of her. Only now had she begun to realize just how fearful the Furlings were of what Earth could become. There was no doubt in her mind that Earth would do more good with their technology, but if the SGC, in the future, did abuse the knowledge and technology they gathered, what could stop them? What if their next advancement in technology is one day abused? The Furlings may not have said anything to her this time but they didn't need to. They showed her everything they wanted her to know.

She just kept her eyes on the figure as the water beneath her feet began to rise and slowly engulf her. As the glowing water rose above her head, her entire body now submerged in the liquid, she thought about all the reports she read of advanced civilizations refusing to give Earth technology. She remembered how people felt the Tok'ra and Tollan were so arrogant and self-righteous. Now she got a glimpse of what could be the future that all the races feared.

Finally engulfed, the glow of the water slowly went away, immersing her in darkness. Suddenly, the blackness was split open by a blinding light. She instinctively raised her hand to shield her eyes, blinking as her eyes adjusted. She sat up in her hospital bed. She was in the infirmary. To say her stomach felt bruised would've been an understatement. It felt as if her muscles had been placed in a spiked vice. Joining her in the infirmary were Hailey and Dannick. To her surprise, Chen was right beside her, laying in an empty hospital bed.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," he remarked when he noticed Nova had woken. She put her hand to the now stitched up wound, not even wanting to try to imagine what the operation looked like.

"What'd I miss?" she asked casually, looking around. She could still hardly believe that they all made it. Part of her was still waiting for the revelation that this was all a dream and that they were still back on the planet.

Chen and Hailey both looked at McFree.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"No snarky comment?" Chen asked.

"No immature jokes?" Hailey added. Isaac gave an amused snort.

"Not this time," he said, leaning back. "This time I'm more than happy to keep my mouth shut."

"You do that," Hailey remarked, though Nova couldn't tell if it was in irritation or amusement. "And I guess I'll be joining Chen on the pussy-squad," she added, holding up her bandaged right hand. "Flash banging yourself is not all it's cracked up to be."

"Admitting that you're wrong?" Chen translated. Hailey gave a weak smile, realizing that this was exactly what she did. There was a time when she was refuse to admit being wrong. Now here she was giving her equivalent of an apology for flash banging him earlier and telling him to get over it. She may have matured over the years but she still retained her temper. "Let's just call it even."

"Hey, Steven, where're Charles and Corin?" Nova asked.

"Sleeping in their rooms probably. You were out for an entire day." Terra Nova fell silent, thinking about this.

"Then why are you here?" she asked.

"I don't sleep," Chen said gruffly as if to shrug off the topic. Terra knew this was probably a lie since Chen was almost always chugging down coffee just to keep himself awake when working.

"If you say so," Nova said with a smile as she leaned back in her bed. She was battered and bruised and had about a dozen stitches but she was still alive. More than that, her friends had made it was well.

-.-

Mercer sat in his office, scrolling through the data gathered on the Quinteran bullet extracted from Nova. The Major had already lost a lot of blood and lost even more due to the surgery trying to extract the bullet intact and undamaged. But, thanks to that, they now know their hypothesis was correct. The Quinterans had somehow incorporated Ancient drone technology into their bullets. The bullet didn't have the propulsion or navigation system and the energy field encasing the metal projectile was not as strong as that around a drone but it was strong enough to burn through almost any type of armor or shield. It was one step closer to understanding their enemy.

Mercer looked up from his desk as several people walked into his office. It was in the middle of the night cycle so no one was around to see this…but that was the intent. Mercer could feel the presence of Tok'ra symbiotes in half the people. The other half were purely human.

The last person in peeked out the door to make sure no one was watching.

"So…we're all here," General Mercer said. He slowly got up from his desk and walked to the wall behind his chair, gently typing in the combination into the wall. The pearly white wall seemed to vanish, replaced with a doorway into a majestic hall with a wood table at the center, beneath the crystal chandelier. They all took their seats at the table, the General taking a seat at the far end. The eyes of several members gave a violent glow, the Tok'ra symbiotes making their presence known. The remaining humans were members of the IOA. They had all managed to sneak with the expedition.

"Gentlemen," Mercer greeted. "We agreed to this emergency meeting to discuss the latest events of Wolf Pack's mission. When this expedition was first conceived, the Tok'ra, Jaffa, and IOA agreed to work together because of a singular fear, a fear of a potential enemy far worse than the Goa'uld or any enemy we have ever faced before. The IOA is currently using the Millennium Expedition as a social experiment to gather and train individuals in the hope of creating teams that can match the skills and abilities of SG1 but will still yield to authority. The Tok'ra agreed to accept me into their ranks and the IOA agreed to let me be part of this expedition despite my history because of my unique set of skills that I can bring to bear. We have taken many precautions to prevent this fear from ever coming true."

"The Free Jaffa Council have agreed with our assessment and feel Teal'c and Bra'tac will be too emotionally involved," an IOA member explained. "As a result, they have not been informed of our actions and their fleet is ready for action."

"I still do not agree with this," a female Tok'ra from the back said. "I have worked with them before and I find it difficult to believe that they will become this."

"Perhaps the current leaders won't," an IOA member pointed. "Perhaps their successors, or their successors' successors won't. But with the recent drastic jumps in technology and their propensity to disregard authority when it suits them, we have to face this very real possibility."

"And, thanks to Wolf Pack's recent mission reports, we have some idea of what we may end up facing, the threat that may arise if they are left unchecked," General Mercer added. "And when the time comes, we'll be ready…"

-.-

 _A/N: Alright, been working on this for the last few months and I'm actually having difficulty getting it to a point where I'm completely satisfied. I don't know what it is but I feel off about this chapter. Also, this story's gone through several drafts. One thing I want is to have consequence to the character's actions: Nova's in this case. In the first draft, she completely lost her right arm. In another draft, she was killed. So, do you think those would've been ore suitable consequences for her actions?_

 _I've done what I could for it. Please, let me know what you think. Most of all, enjoy._


End file.
